Paul Fromm (September 28, 1906 – July 4, 1987) was a Jewish
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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wine merchant and performing arts patron through the Fromm Music Foundation.
The ''Organum for Paul Fromm'' was composed by
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works.
Life
John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harbi ...
in his honor.
Early life
Born in
Kitzingen
Kitzingen () is a town in the German state of Bavaria, capital of the district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County is the largest wine producer ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
to a prominent family of
vintner
A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:
*Cooperating with viticulturists
*Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...
s, Fromm was an early supporter of contemporary classical music in that country after he was exposed to
Stravinsky's ''
Rite of Spring'' in the early 1920s. He attended concerts at the
Donaueschingen Festival
The Donaueschingen Festival (german: Donaueschinger Musiktage, links=no) is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen in south-western Germany. Founded in 1921, it is considered the oldest festiva ...
further deepening his appreciation of the genre.
A Jew, he was forced to flee
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in 1938 and immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
where he settled in Chicago where he co-founded a wine importing firm, the Geeting and Fromm Corporation in 1939 and then founded the Great Lakes Wine Company in 1943.
Patronage
By 1952, his business was sufficiently well established to allow him to focus on establishing the Fromm Music Foundation, which financially supporting young composers through grants awarded on the recommendation of its staff of musicians and experts. Fromm's
protégés include
Benjamin Lees
Benjamin Lees (January 8, 1924 – May 31, 2010) was an American composer of classical music.
Early life
Lees was born Benjamin George Lisniansky in Harbin, Manchuria, of Russian-Jewish descent. Lees was still an infant when his family emigra ...
,
Ben Weber and
Elvin Epstein.
A "Paul Fromm Concert" of
contemporary classical music is performed annually at the University of Chicago in his memory. The Paul Fromm Award is given annually by the
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...
in his name. During the period 1984-89,
Earle Brown
Earle Brown (December 26, 1926 – July 2, 2002) was an American composer who established his own formal and notational systems. Brown was the creator of "open form," a style of musical construction that has influenced many composers since†...
, then president of the Fromm Music Foundation, recommended many American composers for commissions including
Daniel Asia
Daniel Asia (born June 27, 1953) is an American composer. He was born in Seattle, Washington (U.S. state), Washington, in the United States of America.
Biography
He received a B.A. degree from Hampshire College and a M.M. from the Yale School of ...
,
David Lang,
William Susman,
Henry Brant
Henry Dreyfuss Brant (September 15, 1913 – April 26, 2008) was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques.
Biography
Brant was born i ...
and
Steve Reich.
Paul Fromm was married to
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
psychology professor and writer Erika Fromm whom he met in Germany in 1936 and married in 1938 shortly before
emigrating
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to the United States.
Fromm's 1966 article "A Contemporary Role for American Music Libraries" inspired the major compendium of Boston-area composers and compositions called the Boston Composers Project.
See also
*
20th-century classical music
References
Rescuer of Necktie Salesmen ''
Time Magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...
'', July 23, 1956
Paul Fromm, Classical-music Patron, is Dead ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'',
John Rockwell
John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to '' Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ...
, July 6, 1987
External links
Fromm Music Foundation
Bruce Duffie, April 9, 1986
1906 births
1987 deaths
People from Kitzingen
20th-century American businesspeople
American people of German-Jewish descent
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
20th-century classical music
20th-century American philanthropists
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