By Jill Yesko, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 2-18-08
Harold Schiffman
GREENSBORO, NC – Harold Schiffman, whose repertoire includes close to 100 works that have been performed from New York to Europe, South America and the Far East, will be honored with a retrospective of his work at the School of Music.
The performance will take place Saturday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall. The event is free and open the public.
The program, which also honors Schiffman’s 80th birthday, includes a rich sampling of Schiffman’s works, which range from full symphonies to works for individual instruments.
Among the pieces to be performed will be the North Carolina premier of “Alma,” a cantata with lyrics based on text from North Carolina poet laureate and UNCG alumnus Kathryn Stripling Byer’s book “Wildwood Flower."
Other selections are: “Concertino for Flute and String Orchestra,” “Three Pieces for Piano,” “Pentalogue,” and “Concertino for Eleven Saxophones.”
The winner of the 2008 Harold Schiffman High School Composition Competition will also be announced during the event. The winner receives a $500 scholarship to attend the UNCG School of Music.
Schiffman came of age when the arts in Greensboro were especially vibrant. His mother arranged for visiting musicians stationed in Greensboro during World War II to visit their home. During the war, Glenn Miller recruited musicians to serve as entertainment for the troops, and during their visits to his house Schiffman sometimes composed small pieces for them.
Schiffman also had the opportunity to listen to the many renowned classical musicians and orchestras that performed at Aycock Auditorium, among them Rachmaninoff and the Philadelphia Orchestra. While in high school, Schiffman studied with Professor Elliott Weisgarber, a member of the Woman’s College (now UNCG) faculty.
In 1981 Schiffman was honored with a 25-year retrospective of his compositions at New York’s Alice Tully Hall. He was further honored in 1988 when a program of his music was performed at Carnegie Hall.
Schiffman’s principal composition teacher was Roger Sessions, with whom he studied at the University of California at Berkeley as well as privately. He also studied under Ernst von Dohnányi while working on a doctorate at Florida State University following master’s studies at UNC Chapel Hill.
Schiffman served on the faculty of Florida State University’s School of Music from 1959 until his retirement as professor of composition in 1983. In 1985 he was named professor emeritus. He was also the founding director of the Florida State University Festival of New Music in 1981.
For more information about the School of Music visit www.uncg.edu/mus.
