Edwin John Stringham (July 11, 1890 – June 30, 1974) was an
American composer.
Life
Stringham was a native of
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Keno ...
. He earned a bachelor's degree in music from Northwestern University, a doctorate in music from the University of Denver, and a doctorate in teaching from the University of Cincinnati.
[ ] He also studied at the Royal Academy of Rome, the Italian Academy, and the University of Munich.
He died in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange, Durham County, North Carolina, Durham and Chatham County, North Carolina, Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States Ce ...
.
Career
Stringham spent much time in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
before moving to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, where he served on the faculty of
Teachers College
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...
at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
. Until 1947, he was the director of music instruction at the U. S. Army American University in
Biarritz
Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Sp ...
, France. Most of his output was orchestral, and would frequently spice his works with elements of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
. Among the orchestras to play his work was the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...
.
Politics
In the late 1940s, Stringham declared that the Communist Party was creating tensions between blacks and whites in the United States, singling out
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his ...
as a leading member of a communist group seeking to divide the country along racial lines.
[ ]
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Edwin Stringham's obituaryat ''The New York Times''
American male composers
Musicians from Kenosha, Wisconsin
People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Teachers College, Columbia University faculty
1890 births
1974 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male musicians
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