Robert B. Nofsinger (July 11, 1963 - January 19, 1993)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Robert B. Nofsinger (July 11, 1963, Peoria, Illinois - January 19, 1993, San Francisco, California) was a composer, pianist and singer.

Robert Nofsinger was raised on a quiet Illinois farm and began taking piano lessons at the age of eight. His first major composition was the sound track to a movie he made with friends at Washington High School.

He studied music at Goshen College in Indiana and University of Wisconsin at Madison, and also attended schools in England and Taiwan. He then moved to San Francisco. There he taught Chinese at a public high school and studied the language independently while continuing his work as a composer and singer. Nofsinger was a member of the Society of Gay and Lesbian Composers (SGLC), and served as recording secretary for some years until 1991.

Several of his compositions, such as Upon Leaving for Taiwan, were performed in SGLC concerts in 1988 and 1989. His Feng Qiao Ye Bo (Anchored at Night by Maple Bridge), Portas Coeli for men's chorus, and Rainbow Song for voice and piano were performed at an SGLC concert given in his memory in June 1993.

He was a member of the Metamora Mennonite Church.

Robert Nofsinger died of AIDS in San Francisco at the age of 29 on January 19, 1993.

—Nurit Tilles

Source: http://www.artistswithaids.org/artforms/music/catalogue/nofsinger.html

Further Readings:

Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality by Patrick Moore
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press (January 14, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080707957X
ISBN-13: 978-0807079577
Amazon: Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality

The radical sexuality of gay American men in the 1970s is often seen as a shameful period of excess that led to the AIDS crisis. Beyond Shame claims that when the gay community divorced itself from this allegedly tainted legacy, the tragic result was an intergenerational disconnect because the original participants were unable to pass on a sense of pride and identity to younger generations. Indeed, one reason for the current rise in HIV, Moore argues, is precisely due to this destructive occurrence, which increased the willingness of younger gay men to engage in unsafe sex.

Lifting the'veil of AIDS,' Moore recasts the gay male sexual culture of the 1970s as both groundbreaking and creative-provocatively comparing extreme sex to art. He presents a powerful yet nuanced snapshot of a maligned, forgotten era. Moore rescues gay America's past, present, and future from a disturbing spiral of destruction and AIDS-related shame, illustrating why it's critical for the gay community to reclaim the decade.

More LGBT History at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Gay Classics