David Schiff (born August 30, 1945 in New York City) is an American composer, writer and conductor whose music draws on 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, and

klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

styles, showing the influence of composers as diverse as

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and

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, David Taylor, Marty Ehrlich, David Krakauer, Nadine Asin and Peter Kogan. He is the author of books on the music of

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...

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and

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. His work has been honored by the League-ISCM National Composers Competition award and the ASCAP-Deems Taylor award for his book on Elliott Carter.Carol Oja, "David Schiff," The New Grove Dictionary of Opera

Biography

Schiff grew up in the Bronx and

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

, started playing

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

when he was four and composing when he was nine. He received a B.A in English literature from Columbia University in 1967 and an M.A. from Cambridge University, where he was a Kellett Fellow at Clare College, in 1970. After pursuing graduate study in English at Columbia Schiff received an MM from the Manhattan School of Music in 1974 and a DMA From the Juilliard School in 1979. Among his teachers were James Wimer, Irwin Stahl, Roger Smalley, Ludmilla Ulehla, John Corigliano, Ursula Mamlok and Elliott Carter. While studying with Carter at Juilliard, Schiff was awarded the League-ISCM National Composers Competition for his Elegy for String Quartet and also oversaw the world premiere of his opera Gimpel the Fool (libretto by I. B. Singer). Since 1980 Schiff has taught at Reed College Portland, Oregon. He is married to Cantor Judith Blanc Schiff and they have two children.

Compositions

Schiff has composed works for musical theater, worship, orchestra and various chamber ensembles including large and small jazz orchestras. Principal works are:

Musical theater

*''Gimpel the Fool''. Opera in two acts. Libretto by I. B. Singer (Two recordings on Naxos) *''Vashti or The Whole Megillah''. Chamber opera for mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano. *''A Little Proust Opera'' (from ''All About Love''). Chamber opera for mezzo-soprano, tenor and small ensemble.

Orchestra music

*''Slow Dance'' (1989) composed for the Oregon Symphony *''Stomp'' (1990) composed for Concordia *''Speaking in Drums'' (timpani concerto) (1994) composed for the Minnesota Orchestra *''Bridge City'' (1996) for orchestra and blues band, written for the Oregon Symphony *''4 Sisters'' (jazz violin concerto) (1997), American premiere by the Detroit Symphony *''Canti di Davide'' (clarinet concerto) (2001) composed for the Virginia Symphony *Canzona for brass, percussion and strings (2005) composed for the Seattle Symphony *''Infernal'' (2007) composed for the Seattle Symphony *''Stomp Re-Lit'' (2009) composed for the American Composers Orchestra

Choral music

*''Peace'' *''Psalm 121''

Synagogue music

*''Sacred Service'' (1983) *''Wedding service'' (1984) *''Psalm 150'' (2008)

Chamber music

*''Joycesketch II'' for solo viola (1981) *Divertimento from ''Gimpel the Fool'' (1982)* *''Scenes from Adolescence'' (1987)* *''Solus Rex'' (1992) composed for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center *''New York Nocturnes'' (2000)* *''After Hours'' (2001) composed for the Aspen Music Festival *''All About Love'' (2005)* *''Singing in the Dark'' (2006)* *Nonet (2007)* *''Borscht Belt Follies'' (2010)* *''Class of 1915'' (2012)* *starred numbers premiered by Chamber Music Northwest, Portland Oregon.

Jazz ensembles

*''Shtik'' (1992) *''Low Life'' (1998)

Books and articles

Schiff has written frequently on music for the ''New York Times'', the ''Atlantic Monthly'', ''Tempo'', the ''Times Literary Supplement (London)'' and the ''Nation''. His books include *''The Music of Elliott Carter'' (first edition, Eulenberg Books,1983; second edition, Faber and Cornell University Press, 1998) *''George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue'' (1997) Cambridge Music Handbook. *''The Ellington Century'' (2012) University of California Press. He also has written entries on Leonard Bernstein and

for the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''.

References

External links

*
Keiser Southern Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiff, David 1945 births Living people 20th-century American classical composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American classical composers 21st-century American male musicians American male classical composers Classical musicians from New York (state) Jewish composers Jewish opera composers Musicians from New Rochelle, New York Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Columbia College (New York) alumni Juilliard School alumni Manhattan School of Music alumni Reed College faculty