Lloyd Ultan (

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 ...

, June 12, 1929 – October 26, 1998) was an American composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

Career

Ultan received a bachelor's degree 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, the ...

, a master's degree from

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 Manhatt ...

, and a doctorate from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. In 1971, he founded, and, from 1971 to 1974, served as Director of the Composer's Residency Program at

Wolf Trap Farm Park Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (originally known as the Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts and simply known as Wolf Trap) is a performing arts center located on of national park land in unincorporated Fairfax County ...

in Vienna, Virginia. Ultan served as chairman of the Department of Music at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

for 13 years, and spent a year as visiting professor of Composition and Theory at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He has also lectured at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and been a visiting composer on numerous college and university campuses in the United States. He was a professor and chairman (and later emeritus professor and chairman) of composition, music theory, and electronic and computer music at the School of Music

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, and also served as the Director of the Electronic/Computer Music Studio. He was responsible for founding the School of Music and served as its director from 1975 to 1986. He composed over 60 works for a wide variety of genres including electronic music, solo and chamber works, and compositions for voice. His works have been performed and broadcast throughout the world, including in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. His works have been performed by the Tokyo String Quartet, the Pro Arte String Quartet, the

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Em ...

, the

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) is a full-time professional chamber orchestra based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In collaboration with five Artistic Partners, the orchestra's musicians present more than 130 concerts and educational programs ea ...

, the Boston Symphony, William Blount,

Alexander Braginsky Alexander Iosifovich Braginsky (russian: Александр Иосифович Брагинский, ''Aleksandr Iosifovič Braginskij''; May 29, 1944) is a Russian-born pianist and pedagogue, currently living in the United States. Life and care ...

, Young Nam Kim, Tanya Remenikova, and Thomas Murray. He has written numerous articles and a book, ''Music Theory: Compositional Problems and Practices in the Middle Ages and Renaissance'' (with an accompanying workbook/anthology). Ultan's notable students include Edie Hill and Scott L. Miller. Among his numerous fellowships, grants, and awards were a Rockefeller Foundation Residency Fellowship and three residencies at the MacDowell Colony, with a Norlin/MacDowell Outstanding Composer of the Year Award for 1982. The 160-sea
Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall
at the University of Minnesota's School of Music (Donald N. Ferguson Hall) is named for him.

Selected works

Orchestral * Symphony No.2 (1961) Concertante * ''Carlisle Concerto'' for Piano and Orchestra (1958) * Concerto for Organ and Chamber Orchestra (1979) * Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1982) * Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1990) Chamber music * Sonata for Cello and Piano (1962) * String Quartet (1964) * Quintet for Guitar and String Quartet (1966) * ''4 Children's Pieces'' for Violin and Piano (1969) * ''Set for Four'', Miniatures for Solo Flute (1973) * ''Meditation'' for Harp and Flute (1975) * Quintet for Brass and Piano (1975) * Sonata for Bassoon and Piano (1975) * Sonata for Viola and Piano (1976) * Suite for Brass Quintet (1979) * ''Dialogues II'' for Viola and Cello (1980) * String Quartet No.2 (1980) * ''Dialogues III'' for Violin and Viola (1982) * String Trio (1985) * ''Curved Mirrors'' for Oboe, Clarinet and Piano (1995) * ''Monadnock Moods'' for Solo Clarinet (1995) * Sonatine for Unaccompanied Bassoon (1997) Vocal * ''Epithalamium Brevis'' for Soprano (or Tenor), Violin, Viola and Cello * ''Love's Not Time's Fool'' for Soprano, Violin and Viola (1995) * ''Voices of the River'' for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin, Viola and Cello (1995)

Books

*Ultan, Lloyd (1999). "Electronic Music: An American Voice." In ''Perspectives on American Music Since 1950'', ed. James R. Heintze. Essays in American Music series, vol. 4. Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, vol. 1953. New York: Garland. . *Ultan, Lloyd (1977). ''Music Theory: Compositional Problems and Practices in the Middle Ages and Renaissance''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. .

Discography

* Open Boundaries (with

Mary Ellen Childs Mary Ellen Childs (born April 13, 1957 in Lafayette, Indiana) is an American composer and multimedia artist and founder of the ensemble Crash. She grew up as a dancer and writes music often influenced by dance rhythms. She currently administers t ...

and Paul Schoenfield, out on Innova)

External links

Lloyd Ultan biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ultan, Lloyd American male classical composers American classical composers New York University alumni Columbia University alumni University of Iowa alumni American University faculty University of Minnesota people 20th-century classical composers 1929 births 1998 deaths Academics of the Royal College of Music 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians