Alvin Singleton (born December 28, 1940;

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

) is a composer from 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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Born and raised in

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 ...

, he received his music education from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

(B.A.), studying with

Hall Overton Hall Franklin Overton (February 23, 1920 – November 24, 1972) was an American composer, jazz pianist and music teacher. He was born in Bangor, Michigan, the first of the three sons of Stanford and Ruth (Barnes) Overton. He grew up in Grand Rapi ...

and

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor. He composed more than ...

, and the

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a jo ...

(M.M.), studying with

Yehudi Wyner Yehudi Wyner (born June 1, 1929, in Calgary, Alberta) is an American composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. Life and career Wyner, who grew up in New York City, was raised in a musical family. His father, Lazar Weiner, was an eminent ...

and

Mel Powell Mel Powell (born Melvin Epstein) (February 12, 1923 – April 24, 1998) was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and the founding dean of the music department at the California Institute of the Arts. He served as a music educator for ove ...

. With Fulbright Scholarships, he studied at the Saint Cecilia Academy in Rome with

Goffredo Petrassi Goffredo Petrassi (16 July 1904 – 3 March 2003) was an Italian composer of modern classical music, conductor, and teacher. He is considered one of the most influential Italian composers of the twentieth century.Petrassi, Goffredo. (2008). I ...

. From 1971 to 1985 he lived in Europe, and then he returned to the United States after being appointed as the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date b ...

resident composer, and served in that position from 1985-1988. He served as a resident artist at

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman r ...

in Atlanta. He was also a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Ca ...

grantee in a series entitled "Meet the Composer." Singleton's music shows the evidence of a wide range of influences - "from Mahler to Monk, Bird to Bernstein, James Baldwin to Bach, Santana to Prince" - and often incorporates aspects of theatre and surprise. Notable are his set of eight ''Argoru'' pieces for various solo instruments, composed over the period from 1968 to 2002. His choral ballet ''TRUTH'' (2006), scored for mixed chorus, dancers and an ensemble of 10 instruments, is based on the life of human rights crusader

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Baumfree; November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist of New York Dutch heritage and a women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to f ...

. His piano concerto ''BluesKonzert'' had its Carnegie Hall debut in 2010 with soloist

Ursula Oppens Ursula Oppens (born February 2, 1944) is an American classical concert pianist and educator. She has received five Grammy Award nominations. Biography Ursula Oppens was born on February 2, 1944, in New York City into a highly musical family fr ...

and the

American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...

. Albany Records has issued a series of recordings, including ''Extensions of a Dream'' (2002, percussion music), ''Sing to the Sun'' (2007, choral and chamber music) and ''Sweet Chariot'' (2014, solo and chamber music). The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus has recorded ''PraiseMaker''. The four string quartets have been recorded by the Momenta Quartet.New World Records 80832-2, reviewed at ''MusicWeb International''
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List of compositions

A complete list of published compositions can be found o
Alvin Singleton's website.
*String Quartet No. 1 (1967) *''Dream Sequence '76'' (opera) (1976) *''A Yellow Rose Petal'' for orchestra (1982) *''After Fallen Crumbs'' for orchestra (1987) *''Shadows'' for orchestra (1987) * String Quartet No.2 ''Secret Desire to be Black'' (1988) *''Between Sisters'' for soprano, alto flute, vibraphone and piano (1990) * String Quartet No.3 ''Somehow We Can'' (1994) *''BluesKonzert'' for piano and orchestra (1995) *''PraiseMaker'' for mixed chorus and orchestra (1998) * ''Greed Machine'' for vibraphone and piano (2003) * ''When Given a Choice'' for orchestra (2004) * ''TRUTH'', choral ballet (2006) * ''Brooklyn Bones'' for chorus and orchestra (2008) * ''Different River'' for orchestra (2012) * ''Sweet Chariot'', for chamber ensemble (2013) *''Prayer'' for tenor solo, chamber choir, organ, harp, trumpet, and cello (2016) *String Quartet No.4 ''Hallelujah Anyhow'' (2019)

References

External links

Composer's websiteAlvin Singleton interview from American Mavericks siteFinding aid to the Alvin Singleton archive at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singleton, Alvin 1940 births 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical composers 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century classical composers African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American male classical composers African-American opera composers American male classical composers Living people Male opera composers New York University alumni Spelman College faculty Tzadik Records artists Yale School of Music alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

List of compositions

References

Further reading

External links