Biography

Although his scores and recordings sell steadily, Crumb has earned his living primarily from teaching. His first teaching job was at a college in Virginia, before he became professor of piano and composition at the University of Colorado in 1958. In 1965 he began a long association with the University of Pennsylvania, becoming Annenberg Professor of the Humanities in 1983. Some of his most prominent students include Margaret Brouwer, Uri Caine, Christopher Rouse, Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, Cynthia Cozette Lee, Yen Lu, James Primosch, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Ofer Ben-Amots, and Gerald Levinson.

Crumb retired from teaching in 1997, though in early 2002 was appointed with David Burge to a joint residency at Arizona State University. He has continued to compose.

Crumb has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1968 for his orchestral work ''Echoes of Time and the River'' and a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition in 2001 for his work ''Star-Child'' .

Crumb's son, David Crumb, is a successful composer and, since 1997, assistant professor at the University of Oregon. George Crumb's daughter, Ann Crumb, is a successful actress and singer. She recorded his ''Three Early Songs'' for the CD ''George Crumb 70th Birthday Album'' (1999), and has also performed his ''Unto the Hills'' (2001).

Crumb's music

Crumb's compositions often incorporate theater as an element of performance. In several pieces he asks players to leave and enter the stage during the piece. He has also used unusual layouts of musical notation in a number of his scores. In several pieces, the music is symbolically laid out in a circular or spiral fashion.

Several of Crumb's works, including the four books of madrigals he wrote in the late 1960s and ''Ancient Voices of Children'', a song cycle of 1970 for two singers and small instrumental ensemble (which includes a toy piano), are settings of texts by Federico García Lorca. Many of his vocal works were written for the virtuoso mezzo-soprano singer Jan DeGaetani.

''Black Angels'' (1970) is another piece which displays Crumb's interest in exploring a wide range of timbres. The piece is written for electric string quartet (Crumb notes that amplified acoustic instruments are acceptable, but electric instruments are preferred), and its players are required to play various percussion instruments and to bow small goblets as well as to play their instruments in both conventional and unconventional ways. It is one of Crumb's best known pieces, and has been recorded by the Kronos Quartet.

Another of Crumb's best known works are the four books of ''Makrokosmos''. The first two books (1972, 1973), for solo piano, make extensive use of string piano techniques; the third, known as ''Music for a Summer Evening'' (1974), is for two pianos and percussion; the fourth, ''Celestial Mechanics'' (1979), was written for piano four-hands. The title ''Makrokosmos'' alludes to ''Mikrokosmos'', the six books of piano pieces by Béla Bartók; like Bartók's work, ''Makrokosmos'' is a series of short character pieces. Apart from Bartók, Claude Debussy is another composer Crumb acknowledged as an influence here; Debussy's ''Preludes'' comprise 2 books of 12 character pieces, whose titles appear at the end. Crumb's first two books of ''Makrokosmos'' for solo piano contain 12 pieces, each bearing a dedication (a friend's initials, however he also wittily dedicates a piece to himself) at the end. On several occasions the pianist is required to sing, shout, whistle, whisper, and moan, as well as play the instrument conventionally and unconventionally. ''Makrokosmos'' was premiered by David Burge, who later recorded the work.

Crumb's works are published by the C. F. Peters Corporation.

Works

Orchestral

Vocal Choral Orchestral

Chamber/Instrumental

Piano

Vocal

Choral

Filmography

References

External links

Category:21st-century classical composers Category:20th-century classical composers Category:American composers Category:Arizona State University faculty Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Category:People from Charleston, West Virginia Category:Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty Category:University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign alumni Category:University of Michigan alumni Category:Grammy Award winners Category:1929 births Category:Living people

Starobin started playing the guitar at the age of seven, studying first with Manuel Gayol, then Albert Valdes Blain and at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore) with Aaron Shearer. While at Peabody he became Shearer's assistant, directing Peabody's chamber music program for guitarists (1971–73). During this period Starobin worked closely with pianist Leon Fleisher, becoming a member of Fleisher's Theater Chamber Players of The John F. Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.).

David Starobin has toured in the USA as a recitalist, chamber player and orchestral soloist performing at festivals including Marlboro, Aspen, Santa Fe Chamber, and Tanglewood, and with orchestras and ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, and the Emerson and Guarneri String Quartets as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Since 1978 he has made annual solo tours in Europe, performing at festivals and making radio and television broadcasts. Starobin is a member of the new music ensemble Speculum Musicae, with whom he has performed and recorded as guitarist and conductor. He also recorded and toured since 1969 with the baritone, Patrick Mason.

Starobin has chaired guitar departments at Brooklyn College, Bennington College, the North Carolina School of the Arts, the State University of New York at Purchase, and, from 1993 to 2004, the Manhattan School of Music. He remains on the faculty at Manhattan School of Music (2010). In September 2010, Starobin was appointed to the newly created "Fondation Charidu Chair in Guitar Studies" at the Curtis Institute of Music. Starobin will join guitarist Jason Vieaux to create the school's guitar program, beginning in September, 2011. Starobin was the first guitarist to have been awarded Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Career Grant (1988); was honored by Peabody Conservatory with its "Distinguished Alumni Award" (1999); and was given with his wife, Becky Starobin, ASCAP's 'Deems Taylor Award' for their work with Bridge Records (2007). In 2011, Starobin was inducted into the Guitar Foundation of America's "Hall of Fame" and was given the GFA's "Artistic Achievement Award", becoming, at age 59, the youngest recipient of this honor.

Starobin's own guitar recordings, made mainly for Bridge Records, have presented first performances of dozens of new compositions, as well as a broad range of repertoire from the 19th and 20th century. In 1990 he made the first recording of the newly discovered Giulio Regondi (1822–1872) "10 Etudes", a work now regarded as a landmark in romantic-period guitar repertoire. In 2005 he was filmed (London) performing works of Sor and Giuliani on a 1923 Herman Hauser parlor guitar for a DVD released by Mel Bay, Inc. (St. Louis).

Starobin's work in collaboration with several guitar builders has also been noteworthy. In the 80s, Starobin began to perform and record 19th century music on period instruments, notably by Panormo, La Cote, and Stauffer. At the same time, he was performing modern repertoire on traditional Spanish style instruments, including guitars by Hauser, Friedrich and Humphrey. Starobin's close working relationship with Thomas Humphrey led to the design of the Humphrey's first "Millenium" style instrument- a guitar with a raised fingerboard that allowed improved access to the upper positions of the guitar's neck. This instrument came to be used by many of the guitar world's leading performers. Later, Starobin worked closely with the British builder Gary Southwell to develop Southwell's "A" series. These instruments utilized a version of J.G. Stauffer's adjustable action, combining this old device with more modern design. In recent years, Starobin has played instruments built by the Chicago-based Richard Brune-an instrument that combines significantly smaller neck size, and a modified cutaway along side Brune's traditional Spanish design.

In 1981, Starobin and wife Becky, formed the record label Bridge Records, Inc., a company that has released more than 300 CDs and DVDs (May, 2009). Bridge Records has been nominated for twenty-two Grammy Awards and has received three - for Best Contemporary Composition for George Crumb's "Star-Child" (2001) (BRIDGE 9099 David Starobin, Producer), for Best Classical Vocal Recording for Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Peter Serkin's performance of Peter Lieberson's "Rilke Songs" (BRIDGE 9178, David Starobin, Producer) (2007), and for Garrick Ohlsson's Beethoven Sonatas, Vol. 3 (2008) for Best Solo Instrumental Recording (BRIDGE 9207, Adam Abeshouse, Producer). In addition to his Grammy Award as Producer, Starobin has been nominated for two Grammy Awards as performer: on guitar for his "Newdance: 18 Dances for Guitar 1996-97" (Best Instrumental Solo Recording); and on mandolin for "George Crumb: Ancient Voices of Children" (Best Small Ensemble Recording) (2006).

Starobin's major projects as record producer include Bridge's ongoing complete George Crumb Edition, begun in 1982 with a recording made by mezzo-soprano, Jan DeGaetani and pianist Gilbert Kalish (BDG 2002, LP). Bridge's Crumb recordings were all made in collaboration with the composer, who attended all the recording sessions, and also recorded for the series as pianist, percussionist and narrator. The Bridge Records Crumb series culminated in 2009 with the release of the film 'George Crumb, "Bad Dog!"' (2009), directed by Starobin. The film's premiere screening was presented in London by the BBC, as part of a festival devoted to the music of Crumb. Starobin has also worked closely with the piano virtuoso Vassily Primakov, producing recordings of concertos by Mozart, Chopin and Dvorak, and solo recordings of Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Schubert, and Schumann. In 2009 Starobin directed a film featuring Primakov performing works by Brahms, Chopin and Scriabin.

In 1995, Bridge Records, Inc. signed an agreement with The Library of Congress to co-produce the CD series: "Great Performances from the Library of Congress", featuring previously un-issued concert performances recorded in the LOC's Coolidge Auditorium (1937–present). Artists appearing on the first 24 volumes of the series include Nathan Milstein, George Szell, The Budapest String Quartet, Leontyne Price, Samuel Barber, Cecil Taylor, Leopold Stokowski, Jan DeGaetani, Aaron Copland, The Golden Gate Quartet, Josh White, John Barrows, Berl Senofsky, Gary Graffman, Dorothy Maynor, Artur Balsam, Henryk Szeryng, Buddy Collette, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Marcel Grandjany, Gustave Langenus, and Zino Francescatti. The Bridge/LOC series has been noted for its re-mastering of the LOC's original materials, in restorations supervised by Adam Abeshouse and David Starobin.

He has given the premieres of numerous contemporary works.

Pieces written for David Starobin include

References

Sound files from recordings

External links

Category:American classical guitarists Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Manhattan School of Music faculty

Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA, where he teaches ''Art as Social Action'' and ''Art as Moral Action''.

Biography

Early and middle career

Sellars's production of ''Antony and Cleopatra'' in the swimming pool of Harvard's Adams House brought press attention well beyond campus, as did the subsequent techno-industrial production of ''King Lear'', which included a Lincoln Continental on stage and ambient musical moods by the Steel Cello Ensemble. In his senior year, he staged a production of Gogol's ''The Inspector-General'' at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

This was followed during the summer of 1980 by staging of ''Don Giovanni'' performed under the aegis of the Monadnock Music Festival in Manchester, New Hampshire, which ''Opera News'' hailed as "an act of artistic vandalism". In the winter of 1980, a production of George Frideric Handel's ''Orlando'', again at the American Repertory Theatre, brought him to national attention—perhaps because of the novel conceit of setting it in outer space. Later, Sellars studied in Japan, China, and India.

Sellars served as director of the Boston Shakespeare Company for the 1983-1984 season. Among his productions were an influential ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' and a shattering staging of ''The Lighthouse'' by British composer Peter Maxwell Davies. In 1983 he received a MacArthur Fellowship.

In 1984, he was named director and manager of the American National Theater in Washington, D.C. at the age of 26, a post he held until 1986. During his years in Washington, Sellars staged a production of ''Count of Monte Cristo'', in a version by James O'Neill, featuring Richard Thomas, Patti Lupone, Zakes Mokae, and many other outstanding performers. The production had a set design by George Tsypin, with costumes by Dunya Ramicova, and lighting by James F. Ingalls. He also directed productions of Idiot's Delight by Robert Sherwood and Sophocles's ''Ajax'', as adapted by Robert Auletta.

He was Artistic Director of the 1990 and 1993 Los Angeles Festivals, presenting works of talented artists like the late Iranian director Reza Abdoh, and playwright Frank Ambriz.

Sellars subsequently staged a series of Mozart's operas, ''Cosi Fan Tutte'' (set in a diner on Cape Cod), ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (set in a luxury apartment in New York City's Trump Tower), and ''Don Giovanni'' (set in New York City's Spanish Harlem, cast and costumed as a blaxploitation movie), in collaboration with Emmanuel Music and its Artistic Director, Craig Smith. The productions were met with great critical acclaim, recorded in Austria by ORF in 1989, subsequently televised by PBS, and later revived at MC93 Bobigny (Paris) and the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona).

Sellars has directed one feature film, ''The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez'', a silent color film starring Joan Cusack, Peter Gallagher, Ron Vawter, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. He was featured in Jean-Luc Godard's film of ''King Lear'', which he co-scripted.

Sellars was invited to the Salzburg and Glyndebourne Festivals, where he mounted productions of various 20th-century operas, notably Olivier Messiaen's ''Saint François d'Assise'', Paul Hindemith's ''Mathis der Maler'', György Ligeti's ''Le Grand Macabre'', and, with choreographer Mark Morris, the premiere of John Adams's and Alice Goodman's ''Nixon in China'' and ''The Death of Klinghoffer'', and the premiere of Kaija Saariaho's first opera, ''L'amour de loin''.

Other projects in which he has been involved include stagings of Handel's opera ''Giulio Cesare'' and oratorio ''Theodora'', Stravinsky's ''The Story of a Soldier'' with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky and Peony Pavilion.

He directed an important production of ''The Persians'' at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993, which articulated the play as a response to the Gulf War of 1990-1991.

In 1998, Sellars was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his work combining European and American cultural traditions in opera and theatre.

John Adams is one of Sellars's closest musical associates. Sellars directed and wrote the libretto for Adams's ''Dr. Atomic'', about Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atomic bomb, for the San Francisco Opera (2005), De Nederlandse Opera, and the Chicago Lyric Opera (2008).

In 2005 Sellars was awarded The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the richest prizes in the arts, given annually to “a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.”

Recent years

In 2007, Sellars delivered the "State of Cinema" address at the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival on April 29. He introduced the screenings of Mahamat Saleh Haroun's ''Daratt'' and Garin Nugroho's ''Opera Jawa'', two of the New Crowned Hope films and it also screened Jon Else's documentary, ''Wonders Are Many'', which features an account of Adams's and Sellars's creation of the first San Francisco production of ''Doctor Atomic''. An extensive commentary by Sellars is included in the 2007 DVD of Grigori Kozintsev's ''King Lear'' by Facets Video.

In early 2009, Sellars co-curated a contemporary art exhibition of work by Ethiopian artist Elias Simé at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, a kunsthalle in Santa Monica, California. His ''Othello'', starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Iago, showed in the Fall 2009 season at New York City's Public Theater.

In 2011, Sellars directed a production of John Adams's opera ''Nixon in China'' for New York's Metropolitan Opera. This was broadcast in many theaters around the world in HD on February 12. During a backstage interview in the first intermission, Sellars referred to the fall of President Hosni Mubarak which took place in Cairo on the previous day, comparing it to the momentous time when Richard Nixon first met with Mao Tse-Tung in Peking (as Beijing was then known in the West) opening diplomatic and trade relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China.

Controversy

In 2001, Sellars briefly directed South Australia's Adelaide Festival of Arts before being replaced by Sue Nattrass. Sellars' brief directorship remains the most controversial in the festival's history. He claimed the reason behind his shock departure was that he was "impeding the forward progress of the Festival".

The Opposition Arts Spokesperson for South Australia, the Hon. Carolyn Pickles, said of the situation at the time: :"Peter Sellars asked the community to take a leap of faith for his particular Festival which was based around themes. He also rejected what he termed 'the shopping trolley' approach to Festivals. We took him on faith and embraced his dream, but soon it became apparent... that the emperor had no clothes. Critics gave the programme the thumbs down, which finally precipitated action on the part of the Festival Board."

References

Sources

External links

Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:American theatre directors Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Opera directors Category:MacArthur Fellows Category:Erasmus Prize winners Category:University of California faculty Category:People from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Phillips Academy alumni