Janet Byles

Janet Byles (nee Knapp) died on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, at Kendal at Oberlin. She was 87.

Born Sept. 1, 1922, in Cobleskill, N.Y., she received her A.B. and M.A. degrees from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. in Music History from Yale University.

She taught in China from 1946 to 1949 as a representative of Oberlin College's Shansi Program. During her long career as a musicologist, she taught music history at Oberlin Conservatory, Yale University, Boston University, and Vassar College, where she was named Professor Emeritus.

She leaves a legacy of hundreds of students, many of whom, under her inspiration, became professional musicologists and teachers. She was the first female president of the American Musicological Society.

Her specialty was the study of conductus, a form of medieval music used in processions. Her book "Thirty-five Conductus for Two and Three Voices" was published in 1965.

She and her husband, George Huntington Byles, a prominent church musician, moved from Fearrington, N.C. to Kendal at Oberlin soon after its opening. She was preceded in death by her husband, and is survived by many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held in the Heiser Auditorium at Kendal at Oberlin on Saturday, March 20, at 3 p.m. The service will include music by members of Oberlin's early music choral group, Collegium, conducted by Steven Plank.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music Scholarship Fund, 77 West College St., Oberlin, Ohio 44074; or to the Choral Scholars Fund at Christ Episcopal Church, 162 South Main St., Oberlin, Ohio 44074.