Biography
Lincoln Mayorga, born in Los Angeles and later based in upstate New York, earned his primary reputation as a pianist while also working as an arranger, producer, composer, and instructor. Starting in 1974 he began releasing his own projects even as he held the position of staff pianist at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to the soundtracks of The Rose, Pete's Dragon, Chinatown, and Ragtime. He further participated in the score for Fame and supplied music for the television series Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven, and Dallas. Beyond the studio, Mayorga performed widely throughout North America, Europe, and Russia, where the Moscow Philharmonic invited him to play Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and “I Got Rhythm.” He shared stages with Itzhak Perlman, Josef Suk, Arnold Steinhardt, Richard Stoltzman, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Gerard Schwarz, and he served as accompanist, arranger, or producer for recordings by Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Vikki Carr, Mel Tormé, Margaret Whiting, Andy Williams, and Quincy Jones. Mayorga co-founded the audiophile imprint Sheffield Lab, overseeing sessions that included Harry James and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and he operated his own label, TownHall, which focused on historical reissues, jazz, and complete editions such as Franz Schubert’s music for violin and piano, Bach’s six suites for solo cello, and the complete piano music of Henry Cowell. In 1999 he issued the solo album The Song Recital: Alive in America. He also cut ragtime material under the pseudonym Al “Spider” Dugan and continued performing into the 2000s. Lincoln Mayorga died on July 3, 2023, at the age of 86.
Albums
