Thomas Heck

Thomas Fitzsimons Heck (July 10, 1943 – October 3, 2021) was an American musicologist, classical guitarist, and librarian. He published research on guitar history and bibliography and helped establish the Guitar Foundation of America.

Early life and education Heck was born in Washington, D.C., but spent most of his youth in New Orleans and Paris, where his father served as a U.S. diplomat. He completed secondary school in France, earning the baccalauréat in 1960, and began to study the guitar during these years.

Career and scholarship After a commission as a U.S. Army first lieutenant, Heck taught music history at various universities including Case Western Reserve, John Carroll University, and Chapman University. He earned a Master of Library Science at the University of Southern California in 1977, and his first position as a librarian was at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. He later served for 22 years as head of the Music and Dance Library at the Ohio State University.

Heck's doctoral research became the basis for his book Mauro Giuliani: Virtuoso Guitarist and Composer (1995), and its updated edition, Mauro Giuliani: A Life for the Guitar (2013), published as part of the GFA Monograph Series.

Heck wrote and edited books, musical editions, and articles on the guitar, including:

A Survey of Guitar Curricula in Colleges in the U.S. and Canada (1975) Le Rossiniane by Giuliani (facsimile edition, 1976–78) Sixteen Songs with Guitar Accompaniment by Schubert (1980) Guitar Music in the Archive of the Guitar Foundation of America (1981)

Heck also published on the iconography and literature of Italian comedy, including Commedia dell’Arte: A Guide to the Primary and Secondary Literature (1988) and The Commedia dell’Arte in Naples (2001). He also published Picturing Performance: The Iconography of the Performing Arts (1999). In addition, Heck published dozens of articles in Soundboard, Early Music, and other academic journals. He attended every GFA convention thereafter and led the Research Round Table. He founded the GFA Archives, the GFA Monograph Series, and the peer-reviewed journal Soundboard Scholar. He also contributed a regular column titled "Works in Progress/Completed" in the GFA’s magazine, Soundboard, from its first issue in 1974.

Later life After retiring to Santa Barbara, California, in 2001, Heck worked as a music minister, studied web design, supported nonprofit organizations, and volunteered in hospice care. He also initiated the digitization of 37 volumes of Soundboard magazine (1974–2010). The digitized volumes were subsequently made searchable for researchers.

Personal life and death

Heck was married to Anne Goodrich for many years. He died in Santa Barbara on October 3, 2021, from complications of Parkinson’s disease. Music Information Explosion and its Implications for College Teachers and Students. Missoula, MT: College Music Society, 1992. Mauro Giuliani: Virtuoso Guitarist and Composer. Columbus, OH: Editions Orphée, 1995. Picturing Performance: The Iconography of the Performing Arts. Rochester, N.Y: University of Rochester Press, 1999.