Stephen Jaffe (born December 30, 1954, in Washington, D.C.newsobserver.com
) is 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 se ...

. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, United States, and serves on the music faculty of Duke University, where he holds the post of Mary and James H. Semans Professor of Music Composition; his colleagues there include composers Scott Lindroth, John Supko, and

Anthony Kelley Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Ant ...

. Jaffe graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

in 1977; he received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

the following year from the same institution. During his time in Pennsylvania, he studied with

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the practice following the death of his teenage son in 1964; he claimed this compositional technique ...

, and

Richard Wernick Richard Wernick (born January 16, 1934, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American composer. He is best known for his chamber and vocal works. His composition ''Visions of Terror and Wonder'' won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Career Wernick ...

. Jaffe's music has been performed across the United States,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, and China (including the Nottingham,

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...

, and Oregon Bach Festivals) by ensembles including the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Me ...

, the R.A.I. of Rome, the North Carolina Symphony, the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fra ...

, the

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra The New Jersey Symphony, formerly the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is an American symphony orchestra based in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Symphony is the state orchestra of New Jersey, performing classical subscription concert serie ...

, the

Miami String Quartet The Miami String Quartet is an American string quartet. The group was founded in 1988 at The New World School of the Arts by John de Lancie in Miami, Florida. The Quartet was in Residence at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where all four me ...

, and the

Ciompi Quartet The Ciompi Quartet is a string quartet at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits ex ...

. He has received awards and commissions, and recordings of his works are available, including a three-volume retrospective of his work ''The Music of Stephen Jaffe'' from Bridge Records. Jaffe's notable students include Jeremy Beck,

Dorothy Hindman Dorothy Hindman (born March 13, 1966) is an American composer and music educator. Early life and studies Born in Miami, Florida on March 13, 1966, Hindman had intense early exposure to classical music from her mother, Dorothy Hindman Lyon, a gi ...

, Penka Kouneva,

Caroline Mallonée Caroline Mallonée (born 1975"Caroline Mallonée," ''New Music USA'' (website), accessed 8 August 2019) is an American composer best known for her choral works. She is also the artistic director of the Creative Musicians Retreat, part of The Walden ...

Carl Schimmel Carl Schimmel is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He has been awarded the Joseph H. Bearns Prize from Columbia University, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a commission from the Fromm Music Foundation of Harvard University, a fello ...

Amy Scurria Amy Scurria (born September 24, 1973) is an American composer. Biography Amy Scurria was born into a military family and showed an early interest in music, memorizing the piano assignments of her sister Jackie. At age 11 she took lessons under t ...

, and

Nathaniel Stookey Nathaniel Stookey (born 1970, San Francisco, California) is an American composer and musician. Education Stookey is the son of Richard Phelps Stookey, an attorney and novelist, and Martha Milton Stookey, an actor, stage director, and teacher. Bo ...

Awards and recognition

* Koussevitsky International Recording Award (KIRA) from the Musicians Club of New York (November 2006) – for ''Concerto for Violin and Orchestra'' * Composer of the Year from the Classical Recording Society (November 2005) * Aaron Copland Foundation for Music (2002) – for ''Concerto for Violin and Orchestra'' and ''Chamber Concerto ("Singing Figures")'' * Howard Foundation Fellowship from Brown University (1996) * American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Lifetime Achievement Prize (May 1993) * Best Newly Published Music Citation from the National Flute Association (1991) – for ''Three Figures and a Ground'' * Kennedy Center Friedheim Award (May 1991) – for ''First Quartet'', recorded by the

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

Creative Arts Citation (May 1989) *

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 ar ...

(May 1984) * Composer Fellowship from the

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 federa ...

(1981) *

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...

administered by the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects ...

(1980) *

Joseph H. Bearns Prize The Joseph H. Bearns Prize in Music was established on February 3, 1921, by Lillia M. Bearns, in memory of her father. It was her desire to encourage talented young composers in the United States. The Prize, administered by Columbia University, i ...

for ''Four Nocturnes'' (1976) * Student Composer Award from BMI (1975) – for the

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 ...

''Three Lives'' * Premier Medaille d’harmonie from the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva (May 1972)

Major works

* ''Poetry of the Piedmont'' (2006) for orchestra – commissioned by North Carolina Symphony * ''String Quartet No. 2 (Sylvan and Aeolian Figures)'' (2005) – written for the

, commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society * ''Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra'' (2004) – premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra under

Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fath ...

, with soloist David Hardy * ''Designs'' (2002) for flute, guitar and percussion – premiered at the National Arts Center of Taiwan, 2002 * ''Homage to the Breath: Instrumental and Vocal Meditations for Mezzo-soprano and Ten Instruments'' (2001) – featuring a text by

Thich Nhat Hanh Thích is a name that Vietnamese monks and nuns take as their Buddhist surname to show affinity with the Buddha. Notable Vietnamese monks with the name include: * Thích Huyền Quang (1919–2008), dissident and activist * Thích Quảng Độ ( ...

, premiered at the Hirshhorn Museum of Art in

Washington, DC ) , 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, ...

* ''Concerto for Violin and Orchestra'' (2000) – premiered by soloist Nicholas Kitchen with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra * ''Songs of Turning'' (1996) for chorus and orchestra * ''Chamber Concerto ("Singing Figures")'' (1996) for solo

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

and chamber ensemble – recorded by

Speculum Musicae Speculum Musicae is an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. It was founded in New York City in 1971 and is particularly noted for its performances of the music of Elliott Carter and Charles Wuo ...

* ''The Reassurance'' (1995) – contribution to the '' AIDS Quilt Songbook'' * ''First Quartet'' (1991) – commissioned and premiered by the

* ''Three Figures and a Ground'' (1989) for flute and piano * ''Rhythm of the Running Plough'' (1985)

References

"Language of Music Is in His Composition"
by Thomas May for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

''
"Composer's life a classic tale of following one's star"
by Vicki Hyman for ''News Observer'' website
Profile
on the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

site
Profile
(containing Jaffe's residency statement) at the Atlantic Center for the Arts

External links

Jaffe's faculty page
on Duke University's website
Profile
on Duke University's website
Stephen Jaffe's page at Theodore Presser Company

profile at Bridge Records Management
2009 Concert series
at The Walden School with Jaffe as moderator and composer-in-residence
American Works for String Quartet: Copland/Ward/Jaffe
Program notes at DRAM website {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffe, Stephen Living people American male classical composers American classical composers 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Duke University faculty 1954 births Musicians from Washington, D.C. University of Pennsylvania alumni Pupils of George Crumb 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters