David Del Tredici
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David Del Tredici, born March 16, 1937 in Cloverdale, California, is a contemporary composer.
After making his piano debut with the San Francisco Symphony at 17, he went on to receive a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.F.A. in 1964 from Princeton University, studying with composers Earl Kim, Seymour Shifrin and Roger Sessions.
His early work drew from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for inspiration, covering a wide variety of musical styles and forms. He was awarded a Pulitzer prize in 1980 for "In Memory of a Summer Day", the first part of Child Alice. Themes of his later works include literature -- notably, Victorian works, contemporary poets, and the works of James Joyce, Allen Ginsberg, Rumi, Federico García Lorca, Thom Gunn, Paul Monette, Colette Inez, and Bram Stoker -- his own personal stories, and his life as a homosexual.
While trained in serial technique, Del Tredici's works are rooted in tonality; he is one of the most adamant proponents of neoromanticism, with a desire to revive tonality in contemporary music.
In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, he is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and Woodrow Wilson fellowship, a Brandeis Creative Arts Award, a Friedheim Award, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and election to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. His works are regularly commissioned by major orchestras in America and abroad. His work, "On Wings of Song," was premiered in New York City in 2004 as part of the Riverside Opera Ensemble's 20th Anniversary Concert.
Notable works include:
- Six Songs for voice and piano (text by James Joyce) (1959)
- An Alice Symphony (1969)
- Final Alice, an opera in concert form for soprano, folk ensemble, and orchestra (1976)
- Child Alice ("In Memory of a Summer Day", "Happy Voices", "In the Golden Afternoon", "Quaint Events") for soprano and orchestra (1980 - 81)
- The Spider and The Fly for high soprano, high baritone, and orchestra (1998)
[edit] External links
- Boosey & Hawkes biography
- American Mavericks interview
- NewMusicBox: David Del Tredici in conversation with Frank J. Oteri, 2003
Categories: 1937 births | Living people | 20th century classical composers | 21st century classical composers | American composers | Gay musicians | Pulitzer Prize for Music winners | Members of The American Academy of Arts and Letters | LGBT musicians from the United States | Italian-American musicians
