Shulamit Ran ( he, שולמית רן; born October 21, 1949, in

Tel Aviv, Israel Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

) is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to

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 ...

at 14, as a scholarship student at the

Mannes College of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School c ...

. Her

Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...

(1990) won her the

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...

. In this regard, she was the second woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, the first being

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Ellen Taaffe Zwilich ( ; born April 30, 1939) is an American composer, the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Her early works are marked by atonal exploration, but by the late 1980s, she had shifted to a postmodernist, ne ...

in 1983. Ran was a professor of music composition at the

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 ...

from 1973 to 2015. She has performed as a pianist in Israel, Europe and the U.S., and her compositional works have been performed worldwide by a wide array of orchestras and chamber groups.

Biography

Early life

Born in Israel in 1949, Shulamit Ran began composing songs to Hebrew poetry at the age of seven. By the age of nine, she was studying composition with some of Israel's top composers, most notably Alexander Boskovich and Paul Ben-Haim. As a child, Jewish cantoral music played on the radio by her father had a huge impact on Ran. This is apparent in her opera Between Two Worlds-The Dybbuk. She was able to continue her composition studies into her adult years with scholarships from Mannes College of Music in New York and the American Israel Cultural Foundation. In addition to piano, she studied composition with

Norman Dello Joio Norman Dello Joio (January 24, 1913July 24, 2008) was an American composer active for over half a century. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1957. Life Dello Joio was born Nicodemo DeGioio in New York City to Italian immigrants. He began his music ...

and Ralph Shapey. While in the United States, studied piano with

Nadia Reisenberg Nadia Reisenberg Sherman (14 July 1904 – 10 June 1983) was an American pianist of Lithuanian birth. Biography Nadia Reisenberg was born in Vilnius to a Jewish family. Her parents were Aaron and Rachel Reisenberg., adapted from Dr. Anne K. Gray' ...

and

Dorothy Taubman Dorothy Taubman (August 16, 1917 – April 3, 2013) was an American music teacher, lecturer, and founder of the Taubman Institute of Piano. She developed the "Taubman Approach" to piano playing, though her approach provoked controversy. Life ...

. During her time in the US, Shapey and composer

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernism (music), modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism a ...

helped shape Ran's compositional voice, which was constantly changing.

Academic career

After studying with Shapey, he invited Ran to follow in his path of music education. In 1973, at the age of 26, Shulamit Ran joined the faculty at

, where she eventually was named the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Music, she also became the artistic director of Contempo (formerly the Contemporary Chamber Players). Ran, whose students included Melinda Wagner, Suzanne Sorkin, Matt Malsky,

Jonathan Elliott Jonathan Elliott is an American composer and teacher. Born in 1962, Elliott grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, studying piano from the age of six. He went on to study composition at Vassar College, where his teachers included Annea Lockwood an ...

and Jorge Liderman, retired from her position at the University of Chicago in June 2015. She also became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

About her works

Commissioned

Shulamit Ran's piece "Legends" was commissioned for the centennials of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and University of Chicago.

Performed by

Shulamit Ran's works have been performed by many of the world's leading orchestras, including the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, Israel Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Jerusalem Orchestra, l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Amsterdam Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Lukes, and the American Composers Orchestra. Ran's works have also been performed by Contemporary Chamber Players of the University of Chicago, Da Capo Chamber Players, Dolce Suono Ensemble, Network for New Music, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Twentieth Century Consort, Monday Evenin Concerts in Los Angeles, Callisto Ensemble, both Collage and Musica Viva in Boston, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW, the Pennsylvania Contemporary Players, the Mendelssohn String Quartet, the Lark Quartet the Penderecki Quartet, the Cassatt Quartet, the Peabody Trio, Musical Elements, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her music has been performed worldwide, in such places as the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, on "Music Today" in New York, and at the Tanglewood, Aspen, Santa Fe, and Yellow Barn summer festivals.

Works

Chamber ensemble

* ''A Prayer'' (1981) – Horn, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, and Timpani * ''Bach-Shards'' (2002) – String Quartet * ''Chicago Skyline'' (1991) – Brass and Percussion * Concerto da Camera I (1985) – Woodwind Quintet * Concerto da Camera II (1987) – String Quartet and Piano * Concerto da Camera III (Under the Sun's Gaze) (2003–2004) * ''Double Vision'' (1976) – Two Quintets (Woodwinds and Brass) and Piano * ''Excursions'' (1980) – Violin, Cello and Piano * ''Fault Line'' (2005–2006) – * String Quartet No. 3 – '' Glitter, Shards, Doom, Memory'' (2013) * ''Invocation'' (1994) for Horn, Timpani and Chimes * ''Lyre of Orpheus'' (2009) for String Sextet with featured Cello solo * ''Mirage'' (1990) for Five Players * ''Moon Songs'' (2011) for Voice, Flute (doubling Piccolo), Cello, and Piano * ''Private Game'' (1979) for Clarinet and Cello * ''Soliloquy'' (1997) for Violin, Cello and Piano * Sonatina (1961) for two flutes * ''Song and Dance'' (2007) Duo for Saxophones and Percussion * String Quartet No. 1 (1984) * String Quartet No.2 – ''Vistas'' (1988–89)

Instrumental solo

* ''Birds of Paradise'' (2014) for flute and piano * ''East Wind'' (1987) for flute * Fantasy Variations (1979, rev. 1984) for solo cello * ''For an Actor'' (1978) monologue for clarinet * ''Ha'llel'' (2005) for solo organ * ''Hyperbolae'' (1976) for piano * ''Inscriptions'' (1991) for solo violin * Piano Sonata No. 2 (No date) * Short Piano Pieces (No date) * ''Sonata Walzer'' (1983) for piano * Three Fantasy Pieces (1971) for cello and piano * ''Three Scenes'' (2000) for clarinet * ''Verticals'' (1982) for piano

Opera

* ''Between Two Worlds (The Dybbuk)'', opera in two acts (1997)

Orchestra

* Concert Piece (1970), for piano and orchestra * Concerto for Orchestra (1986) * ''Legends'' for orchestra (1992–93, rev. 2001) * The Show Goes On for Clarinet and Orchestra (Ha'hatzaga Nimshechet) (2008) *

(1989–90) * ''Vessels of Courage and Hope'', for orchestra (1998) * Violin Concerto (2002–03) * ''Voices'' (2000) for flautist with orchestra * ''Yearning'' (1995) for violin and string orchestra

Transcriptions (Transcribed by Cliff Colnot)

* Fanfare for Brass (1991) * Soliloquy II (2007) for Violin, Strings and Percussion * Three Fantasy Movements (1993) for Cello and Orchestra

Vocal and Choral

* Adonai Malach (Psalm 93) (1985) * Amichai Songs (1985) * Apprehensions for Voice, Clarinet and Piano (1979) * Credo/Ani Ma'amin (2006) * Ensembles for 17 (1975) for Soprano and Instrumental Ensemble * Fanfare for Multi-Tracked Sopranos (1981) * Hatzvi Israel Eulogy (1969) for Mezzo-soprano, Flute, Harp, String Quartet * O The Chimneys (Not Yet Released) for Mezzo-soprano and Chamber Ensemble. "O, The Chimneys" is Side 2 of the Vox Turnabout LP TV-S 34492, with Gloria Davy, soprano (the first Black soprano to sing the role of Aida at The Metropolitan Opera); Shulamit Ran, piano; New York Philomusica Chamber Ensemble, A. Robert Johnson, conductor. * Shirim L'Yom Tov (Four Festive Songs) (2003 and 2005) for a cappella choir * Supplications for Chorus and Orchestra (no date)

Achievements

Shulamit Ran's achievements include fellowships and commissions from Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Fromm Music Foundation, WFMT, Chamber Music America, the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Eastman School of Music, the American Composers Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, and many more. Ran was named the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...

's second composer-in-residence and served from 1990 until 1997. Her ''Symphony'', performed in 1990, won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1991 and took first place as the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. This makes her the second woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in music, the first being Ellen Taaffe Zwilich in 1983. She has received five honorary doctorates, and her works are published by Theodore Presser Company and the Israeli Music Institute. In addition to this, she has been recorded by more than 12 record labels.

References

Sources

*Dunbar, Julie C. Women, Music, Culture: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print. *"Shulamit Ran, Composer." Weekend of Chamber Music. Web. . *"Shulamit Ran." Theodore Presser Company Music Publisher & Distributor. Web. .

External links

Shulamit Ran's page at Theodore Presser Company

Shulamit Ran on the University of Chicago's website

Art of the States: Shulamit Ran

Shulamit Ran biography, analysis of compositional style and photograph
on the site o
Presser
music publisher and distributor

December 1, 1994 & June 1, 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ran, Shulamit 1949 births Living people People from Tel Aviv 20th-century classical composers University of Chicago faculty Israeli emigrants to the United States 21st-century classical composers Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Women classical composers Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Mannes School of Music alumni 21st-century American composers American classical composers Israeli composers 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century American composers 21st-century American women musicians 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers Jewish opera composers American women academics