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Harold Schiffman (b. 1928; Greensboro, North Carolina) has composed in
virtually all media. His commissions include those from such diverse groups
as the Tallahassee Symphony, the International Trombone Association, the
Apple Trio, the Concertino String Quartet, the Mallarmé Chamber Players, and
the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music, as well as
from a number of individuals including conductor Richard Burgin, flutist
Albert Tipton, soprano Janice Harsanyi, pianist Jane Perry-Camp, and
pianist/conductor Max Lifchitz (for North/South Consonance). The North
Carolina Symphony and the ARTEA Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco, among
others, have premičred his music. In January 1981, New York's Alice
Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, was the site of a twenty-five year retrospective
of Mr. Schiffman's compositions, with the performance of both solo and
chamber works there. Then in November 1992, the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, honored him with an all–Schiffman concert of
performances ranging from large ensemble to solo. North/South
Consonance celebrated Schiffman’s seventieth birthday with a 1998 New York
performance of excerpts from Spectrum, My Ladye Jane’s Booke
and his seventy-fifth in 2003 with a program of his music in Weill Recital
Hall at Carnegie Hall. In June, 2000, Extravaganza (1998)
for three pianos, twelve hands, was the featured work at the University of
North Carolina, Greensboro, Focus on Piano Literature 2000. In
addition to performances in the United States, Mr. Schiffman's music has
been presented in Europe, Latin America, and the Far East. His
publishers include Associated/G. Schirmer, New York; Robert King (Alphonse
Leduc, Paris); Southern Music Co., San Antonio; Columbia Music Co., Chapel
Hill; and Andres Editions, Tallahassee. Mr. Schiffman received his
education at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The University
of California at Berkeley, and The Florida State University, Tallahassee.
His principal composition teacher was Roger Sessions with whom he studied at
the University of California, as well as privately in Berkeley and again
later in Princeton, New Jersey, following three years service (1951‑54) in
the U. S. Army. In Tallahassee, a further influential mentor was Ernst
von Dohnányi. Appointed to the faculty of the Florida State University
School of Music in 1959, Harold Schiffman retired from the position of
Professor of Composition in 1983 and was designated Professor Emeritus in
1985. He was founding director of the Florida State University
Festival of New Music in 1981, and he presently serves as a member of the
Music Advisory Board of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Some of Harold Schiffman's recordings include:
String Quartets 1(1951) and 2 (1981), and
Capriccio (1959):
North/South Recordings N/S R1039
recorded by the Auer Quartet
Concertino for Oboe and Chamber Orchestra (1977):
North/South Recordings N/S R1037
William Meredith, oboist and Max
Lifchitz conducting the North/South Chamber Orchestra
Alma:
North/South Recordings N/S R1035
mezzo soprano Mária Horváth,
The Budafok Chamber Choir, The Győr Philharmonic Orchestra and
Mátyás Antal, conductor
Prelude and Variations:
North/South Recordings N/S R1035
Hungarian Symphony
Orchestra, Mátyás Antal, conductor
Chamber Concerto No. 2: In Memoriam Edward Kilenyi (2000):N/S
R1035
Jane Perry-Camp, pianist,
with the Accord Wind Quintet and Akadémia String, Mátyás Antal,
conductor
Harold Schiffman: Symphony & Concerti:
North/South Recordings N/S R1021,
Symphony (1961) Győr
Philharmonic, Mátyás Antal conducting
Concerto for Oboe
d’Amore & Strings (1988) Giacobassi and the
Hungarian Symphony
Orchestra
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
(1982) Jane Perry-Camp, pianist,
and the HSO
Nine Piano Pieces (1975) and Six Bagatelles
(1954):
North/South Recordings N/S R1001
Max Lifchitz, pianist
Spectrum, My Ladye Jane’s Booke: Eighteen Fugues and
Postludes for Piano (1992)
Jane Perry-Camp,,
pianist:
North/South Recordings N/S R1009
Sestetto Concertato (1993):
North/South Recordings N/S R1013
Max Lifchitz, pianist, and the
North/South Consonance Ensemble
Rhapsody for Guitar (1982) on The American Record,
Centaur Records, CRC 2204
Stephen Robinson, guitarist
Other works have appeared in the United States on the Amoris Edition, CRS,
Garnet, and Orion labels and in Japan on King, Ltd.
Harold Schiffman
2304 Don Andres Ave
Tallahassee, FL 32304
email:
hschiffm@mailer.fsu.edu
web site:
www.haroldschiffman-composer.com
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