Charles Pettaway

Hailing from a musically inclined family, Charles H. Pettaway Jr.’s love for music grew upon watching his grandmother excel as a church organist and his aunt as a piano teacher, who also happened to be his first piano educator. At the age of 14, he began attending the Philadelphia Music Academy on a full scholarship, where he studied with Clemente C. Petrillo, who taught him technique, musicality and passion. He continued his studies at the Ravel Academy, the Tanglewood Summer Music Festival and the American Conservatory at Fontainbleau, France, also privately studying piano performance and theory with Nadia Boulanger, Claude Frank, Gaby Casadesus, Gunther Schuller and Phillipe Entremont. Mr. Pettaway obtained a Bachelor of Music, cum laude, from the Philadelphia Musical Academy in 1971 and a Master of Music, cum laude, from Temple University in 1976.

Today, Mr. Pettaway excels as a full professor of music in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Lincoln University, a role he commenced in 2012. He had previously served the institution as the chair of the department from 2011 to 2018, as well as assistant and associate professor of piano beginning in the 1980s. Likewise, he has taught advanced music theory and music history styles, among various other courses, throughout his tenure. In addition, Mr. Pettaway worked as a teacher of masterclasses for many years and was a faculty member of the Philadelphia Settlement Music School. He was appointed to the Pennsylvania Humanities Council Speakers Program from 2004 to 2006 and served as artist in residence at the Debose National Piano Competition at Southern University in 2005 and 2016.

Alongside his teaching, Mr. Pettaway is a concert pianist, having performed throughout the United States at such venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Symphony Hall in Chicago, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Internationally, he has toured Switzerland, Russia, France and Israel, making his memorable European orchestral debut with Capital Orchestre of Toulouse in France. Mr. Pettaway has also had his performances broadcasted on radio and television. Notably, his picture and biography are part of permanent display of “Black Musicians in the United States” located at the Dusable Museum in Chicago. Looking ahead, Mr. Pettaway aims to continue his music with the Pinn Memorial Baptist Church while also settling into his retirement.