| Short Bio | Composer and author David Schiff was born in New York City on August 30, 1945. He studied composition with John Corigliano and Ursula Mamlok at the Manhattan School of Music, and with Elliott Carter at the Juilliard School where he received his D.M.A. He holds degrees in English literature from Columbia and Cambridge Universities. Schiff is the R.P. Wollenberg Professor of Music at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of The Music of Elliott Carter (Cornell University Press) and
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Cambridge University Press) as well as many articles on music for the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, Opera News and Tempo. David Schiff’s compositions have been released on the Naxos, New World, Delos, Argo, Move, HearMusic, and independent labels. His recent book, The Ellington Century, has garnered praise in both jazz and symphonic music circles. |
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| Long Bio | Composer and author David Schiff was born in New York City on August 30, 1945. He studied
composition with John Corigliano and Ursula Mamlok at the Manhattan School of Music, and with
Elliott Carter at the Juilliard School where he received his D.M.A. He holds degrees in English
literature from Columbia and Cambridge Universities. Schiff is the R.P. Wollenberg Professor of Music at
Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of The Music of Elliott Carter (Cornell University Press) and
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Cambridge University Press) as well as many articles on music for the
New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, Opera News and Tempo.
Major works include the opera Gimpel the Fool, with libretto by I. B. Singer, the Sacred Service, written for the
125th anniversary of Congregation Beth Israel of Portland, Slow Dance, commissioned by the Oregon
Symphony, Stomp, commissioned by Marin Alsop for Concordia, and recorded by the Baltimore Symphony
conducted by David Zinman, Solus Rex, for bass trombone and chamber ensemble commissioned by the
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and premiered by David Taylor, Speaking in Drums, a concerto for
timpani and string orchestra commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra for its timpanist, Peter Kogan,
Vashti, a retelling of the Book of Esther for mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano, commissioned by the Gold
Coast Chamber Music Festival and 4 Sisters, a concerto for jazz violin and orchestra, which premiered in
Cambridge, England and received its American premiere with Regina Carter and the Detroit Symphony.
Schiff’s more recent pieces include Class of 1915, an authentic suite of black music styles popular in the early
20th Century and New York Nocturnes, both premiered by Chamber Music Northwest. Also significant are his
works Pepper Pieces, arrangements of songs by Jim Pepper for jazz violinist Hollis Taylor and strings, Canti di
Davide, a concerto for clarinet and orchestra premiered by David Shifrin and the Virginia Symphony, Singing
in the Dark, for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet, premiered at Chamber Music Northwest by Marty
Ehrlich and the Miami String Quartet, All About Love, a song cycle for mezzo-soprano, tenor and chamber
ensemble which premiered at Chamber Music Northwest and Canzona for brass, percussion and strings
commissioned by the Seattle Symphony with the premiere conducted by Gerard Schwarz.
David Schiff’s compositions have been released on the Naxos, New World, Delos, Argo, Move, HearMusic,
and independent labels. His recent book, The Ellington Century, has garnered praise in both jazz and
symphonic music circles. |
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