Yehudi Wyner (born June 1, 1929, in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, conductor and music educator.

Life and career

Wyner, who grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, was raised in a musical family. His father,

Lazar Weiner Lazar Weiner (October 24, 1897 in Cherkassy – January 10, 1982 in Flushing, Queens) was an Imperial Russian-born, American-naturalized composer of Yiddish song.Obituary ''Jewish folklore and ethnology newsletter'' American Folklore Society ...

, was an eminent composer of

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

art song An art song is a Western vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the collective genre of such son ...

s. Wyner attended Juilliard,

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and was a student of

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

and Walter Piston. He has written music in a variety of genres, including compositions for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, chamber ensembles, solo voice and solo instruments, as well as theatrical music and settings of the Jewish liturgy. Among his best-known works are the ''Friday Evening Service'' (1963) and "Torah Service with Instruments" (1966) for cantor and

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, and ''On This Most Voluptuous Night'' (1982) for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

and chamber ensemble. Wyner taught for 14 years at Yale, where he was the head of the composition faculty. He also taught at SUNY Purchase,

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

Brandeis Brandeis is a surname. People *Antonietta Brandeis (1848–1926), Czech-born Italian painter *Brandeis Marshall, American data scientist * Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, Austrian artist and Holocaust victim * Irma Brandeis, American Dante scholar *Louis ...

and Harvard. In 2006, Wyner won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpie ...

Chiavi in Mano ''Chiavi in Mano'' is a piano concerto in one movement by the composer Yehudi Wyner. The work was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was first performed in February 2005 by the pianist Robert D. Levin and the Boston Symphony Orche ...

''.

Personal life

Wyner was married to Nancy Braverman (Wyner) from 1951 to 1966, with whom he had three children – Isaiah, Adam, and Cassia. He married

Susan Davenny-Wyner Susan Davenny Wyner (born Susan Davenny, October 17, 1943) is a nationally-acclaimed American conductor based in Massachusetts. Davenny Wyner had a promising career as a soprano, which was ended by an automobile/bicycling accident that damaged h ...

in 1967. He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

Selected works

*''Partita'' – for piano, (1952) *Concert duo for violin and piano (1956) *Serenade for flute, horn, trumpet, trombone, viola, cello, piano (1958) *"Torah Service with Instruments" (1966) *''The Mirror'' (1972–73) *''Intermedio'' – Lyric ballet for soprano and strings – October 1974 *''The Grass is High'' – for voice and piano (1979) *String quartet (1984–85) *''Composition'' for viola and piano (1987) *''Trapunto Junction'' for trumpet, French horn, trombone and percussion *''Amadeus' billiard'': for violin, viola, bass, bassoon and two horns (cf. Mozart—Divertimento no. 7, K. 205) (1991) *Prologue and narrative: for cello and orchestra (1994) *Horntrio (1997) *''The second madrigal'': Voices of women (1999) *Quartet for oboe and string trio (1999) *''Commedia'': for clarinet in B-flat and piano (2003) *''

'' for piano and orchestra (2004) *''Give Thanks for All Things'' for orchestra and chorus (2010)

Degrees

, M.Mus. (1953) *

, M.A. (1952) *Yale University, B.Mus. (1951) *Yale University, B.A. (1950) *

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely ...

, Diploma (1946)

Awards

*Fellow,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

(2008) *

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

in Music for "Piano Concerto: 'Chiavi in Mano'" (2006) *Member, American Academy of Arts and Letters (2001–2002) * Elise L. Stoeger Prize, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center "for contributions to chamber music" (1997–1998) *Finalist, Pulitzer Prize in Music (1997–1998) * Naumburg Chair in Composition (1991) *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

(1976–1977) *

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

grant (1976) *Brandeis University Creative Arts Award (1963) * National Institute of Arts and Letters grant (1961) *Guggenheim Fellowship (1960) * A.E. Hertz Fellowship (1953) * Rome Prize Fellowship (1953–1956)

Notable students

* Chester Biscardi * Craig Walsh

Partial discography

*YEHUDI WYNER: 'CHIAVI IN MANO,' OTHER WORKS. Robert Levin, pianist; Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Spano; other performers. Bridge 9282; CD,

References

Composer's homepageBiography
from the

Milken Archive of American Jewish Music Lowell Jay Milken (born November 29, 1948) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and the co-founder and chairman of the Milken Family Foundation. He is also the founder of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, TAP System for T ...

Biography from Schirmer Inc. Associated Music PublishersFaculty profile from Brandeis University

External links

Hear Yehudi Wyner in concert
from WGBH Boston

December 19, 1994 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyner, Yehudi 1929 births Living people American male classical composers American classical composers American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists American male conductors (music) Canadian emigrants to the United States Jewish classical musicians Jewish American classical composers Musicians from Calgary Musicians from New York City Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Yale University faculty Harvard University faculty Brandeis University faculty Pupils of Paul Hindemith 20th-century American pianists Harvard University alumni Yale University alumni 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American conductors (music) Presidents of the American Academy of Arts and Letters