Introduction

Biography

Coe was the son of Tho­mas Stew­art and Es­ther Por­ter.

A pu­pil of Lo­well Ma­son, he be­came mu­sic di­rect­or for the pub­lic schools of Cleve­land, Ohio, in 1869.

This was just an ad­min­is­tra­tive po­si­tion: He had to teach the teach­ers how to teach mu­sic. At the first high school com­mence­ment af­ter he was ap­point­ed he elec­tri­fied the au­di­ence by pro­duc­ing the Hal­le­lu­jah Cho­rus and ex­cerpts from Eli­jah.

Stewart was lat­er pre­si­dent of the Mu­sic Teach­ers As­so­cia­tion, and in 1881 or­gan­ized and be­gan con­duct­ing the Cent­ral Mu­sic­al As­so­cia­tion cho­ral group.

Just be­fore the turn of the cen­tury, he di­rect­ed the Star Course con­cert ser­ies, which in 1892 fea­tured the New York Sym­pho­ny’s first per­form­ance in Cleve­land.

Works

• The Sing­ing School Echo, with James M. North (Cleve­land, Ohio: S. Brain­ard’s Sons, 1872)