Las Vegas composer Hal Stesch, 54, dies

Friday, Jan. 2, 1998 | 10:47 a.m.

A memorial service for longtime Las Vegas pianist and composer Hal Stesch will be at 2 p.m. Monday in the lobby of UNLV's Artemus Ham Concert Hall.

Stesch, who backed up such noted artists as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., died at his home on Dec. 23. He was 54.

He also played the organ and arranged music for several artists in a career that spanned 41 years, 30 of which were in Las Vegas. Stesch also taught jazz theory and music literature at UNLV.

Stesch wrote "Double Whammmy," "The Happening" and "Scootchy," all of which were featured on the Si Zentner Orchestra album "Right Here, Right Now." Stesch had toured with that band in the 1960s.

Stesch was a keyboardist for Presley, Sinatra, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Glen Campbell and The Platters, among others. He also backed up Davis, Louis Nye, Joe Williams and others on other instruments and was musical director for The Mickey Finn Show, The Reflections, The Walkers and others.

At UNLV, Stesch worked with author and historian Arnold Shaw to develop the popular music history course. This past fall, the university honored Stesch with the first outstanding part-time music instructor award.

A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins University and UNLV, Stesch, a Baltimore native, began performing at age 13 on the piano, organ, saxophone, clarinet and flute.

He is survived by his wife, Sandy Stesch and a brother, Phil Stesch.

DONATIONS: To the Hal Stesch Memorial Music Scholarship Fund at UNLV.