Gordon Getty


Gordon Peter Getty is an American businessman and classical music composer, the fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. His mother, Ann Rork, was his father's fourth wife. When his father died in 1976, Gordon assumed control of Getty's US$ 2 billion trust. His net worth was $2.1 billion in September 2020, making him number 391 on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans.

Early life

Getty was raised in San Francisco, California, where he attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory and the University of San Francisco. He also earned a B.A. in music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He studied singing with Verna Osborne.

Career

He joined the oil business to please his father; however, he eventually sold the family's Getty Oil to Texaco in 1986 for US$10 billion. In 1983, Forbes magazine ranked him the richest person in America with a net worth of a little over $2 billion. His net worth was cited as $2.1 billion in 2020, making him the 391st richest person in the United States.
In 2002, Getty founded ReFlow, a company which temporarily purchases shares in mutual funds to save funds taxes and commissions.

Classical music

Among several professions, Getty is a classical music composer whose compositions include the opera Plump Jack, Joan and the Bells, piano pieces, and a collection of choral works. His one-act opera Usher House was performed by the San Francisco Opera in 2015. Aspiring to become an opera singer, Getty studied in the mid-1970s with Louise Caselotti, a mezzo-soprano who had been Maria Callas' voice teacher. He and his wife have supported the fine arts, especially underwriting productions of the San Francisco Opera and the Russian National Orchestra.
Getty's opera The Canterville Ghost was premiered on May 9, 2015, at the Leipzig Opera.

Personal life

On Christmas Day, 1964, he married Ann Gilbert in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gordon and Ann Getty lived in a yellow Italianate mansion in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, with sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Over the years, Getty and Ann, a publisher and a decorator, expanded their living space, buying the house next door and then the house next door to that. They hosted charity events, opera stars, and fundraisers for politicians, including Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newsom's father, William Newsom, one of Gordon's friends since high school, managed the family trust for years.
Gordon and Ann Getty had four sons: Gordon Peter Getty Jr ; William Paul Getty ; Andrew Rork Getty ; John Gilbert Getty.
Getty's assets are managed by Vallejo Investments. Vallejo Investments is what's known as a "family office," an in-house financial team of specialized attorneys, accountants, and money managers.
Getty has a second family based in Los Angeles, including three daughters,  with his former longtime companion Cynthia Beck.
His donations to University of San Francisco helped build the Koret Health & Recreation Center, John Lo Schiavo, S.J. Center for Science & Innovation, and helped establish the J. Paul Getty Honors College Fund.

In popular culture

Gordon Getty's life as a composer was chronicled in Peter Rosen's documentary Gordon Getty: There Will be Music, which premiered on February 5, 2016, at Cinema Village in New York City. It has been broadcast on PBS in the U.S. and Europe on ARTE, as well as film festivals and programs across the country.

Honors and awards

List of works

Opera
CantataJoan and the Bells
Chamber worksFour Traditional PiecesHomework SuiteKathie Trio
Choral worksAnnabel LeeBallet RusseBeauty Come DancingCynaraThe Destruction of SennacheribFor a Dead LadyFour Christmas CarolsGretchen to FaustImpenitent UltimaLa Belle Dame sans MerciThe Little Match GirlMephistopheles to FaustThe Old Man in the NightThe Old Man in the MorningThe Old Man in the SnowA Prayer for My DaughterThere Was A Naughty BoyThose Who Love the MostThree Welsh SongsSt. ChristopherVictorian ScenesYoung America
Orchestral worksAncestor SuiteFour Traditional PiecesHomework SuiteOverture to Plump JackRaise the Colors
Voice and OrchestraCyanaraThe Destruction of SennacheribFour Dickinson SongsGretchen to FaustHostess’s AriaKathie’s AriaMephistopheles to FaustNo, My Good LordPoor PeterA Prayer for my DaughterWhere is My Lady?
Solo InstrumentSpring Song Ninna Nanna Winter Song
Piano worksAncestor SuiteAndantinoFirst AdventureFour Traditional PiecesHomework SuiteScherzo PensierosoTiefer und Tiefer
SongsFour Dickinson SongsPoor PeterA Prayer for My DaughterThe White Election
Arrangements of existing worksAll Through the Night – chorus and eight cellosDanny Boy – voice and piano/voice and orchestraDeep River – voice and piano/voice, chorus and orchestraSilent Night ''– chorus and orchestraShenandoah'' – chorus and orchestra

Discography

  • Goodbye, Mr. Chips
  • An American Song Album
  • Beauty Come Dancing
  • A Certain Slant of Light
  • The Canterville Ghost
  • Out of the Shadows: Rediscovered American Art Song The Little Match Girl December Celebration: New Carols by Seven American Composers Usher House Piano Pieces The Hours Begin to Sing Orchestral Works Plump Jack The White Election And if the song be worth a smile Young America Choral Works
  • ''Joan and the bells & Serge Prokofiev – Romeo and Juliet''