American Wind Symphony Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The American Wind Symphony Orchestra (AWSO; also called the American Wind Symphony, abbreviated AWS) is an American musical ensemble comprising the wind instruments found in a symphony orchestra
, which is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music
, and which is known for having commissioned over 400 new works.http://www.timreynish.com/america.htm Based in Mars
, Pennsylvania
(just north of Pittsburgh
), United States
, the AWSO was founded and directed for 50 years by the American conductor (and former trumpet
er) Robert Austin Boudreau (b. 1927).
The group, whose membership changes from year to year, typically comprises young professional musicians. Many of the works it performs feature an unusually large instrumentation comprising 4 flute
s (doubling on piccolo
, alto flute
, and bass flute
), 4 oboe
s (doubling on English horn
and oboe d'amore
), 4 bassoon
s (doubling on contrabassoon
and heckelphone
), 4 clarinet
s (doubling on E-flat clarinet
, basset horn, bass clarinet
, and contrabass clarinet
), 4-6 trumpet
s, 4-7 horn
s, 4-6 trombone
s, a bass trombone, and 1-2 tuba
s. Percussion, harp
, piano
, and celeste
are usually included as well, but, unlike most concert band
s, saxophone
s and euphonium
s are never used.
The group performs annually during the summer months on a floating arts center designed by the American architect Louis Kahn
.http://newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/06/the_boats_of_su.php Point Counterpoint II, constructed in 1961, is the second boat used by the orchestra, the first having been being a converted coal barge named Point Counterpoint. Aboard Point Counterpoint II, which measures 195 feet (59.4 m) long and 38 feet (11.6 m) wide, there are also rooms for up to 13 crew members, staff, and the Boudreaus to live, an art gallery below deck, and a small theater where most of the patrons' concerts take place.http://newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/06/the_boats_of_su.php
Each summer, the group performs on the barge's stage, with the barge anchored in one of Pittsburgh's rivers. The group also travels on the barge, around various waterways of the United States (including the Ohio
and Mississippi
Rivers, as well as their tributaries
), giving concerts along the way.
The orchestra spent three years overseas where they were present for the Bicentennial celebration of France, the 800th Anniversary in England and were the first U.S. vessel in Leningrad
.
Boudreau took a hiatus of several years after the 2004 residency but after Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita
was compelled to travel to Louisiana
in 2006. The name of that tour was the "Spirit of Louisiana" and the reception in the southernmost cities of Louisiana was so great the orchestra returned for a few weeks in 2007. Boudreau once again announced a retirement as music director following the final concert of the 2007 season at Yale University
. A 2008 New England
tour is being developed for June and July. The tour will begin at Highcroft, Boudreau's farm in Pine Township, Pennsylvania
. The orchestra will have three residencies there, performing on the Caroline Steinman Nunan Amphitheater. The orchestra will then meet up with Point Counterpoint II in Narragansett, Rhode Island
, and performances in Maine
will follow for several weeks. The orchestra will then proceed up the Hudson River
to the Erie Barge Canal and have closing concerts at the end of July back at Highcroft.
Boudreau's operation of the American Wind Symphony Orchestra has courted controversy over the years. In 1985, Federal marshals arrested him for intentionally sailing the Point Counterpoint II contrary to U.S. Coast Guard regulations.[1] His actions have at times antagonized the larger professional music community of Pittsburgh[2] and caused him to be charged with unfair labor practices regarding the treatment of his musicians.[3] Boudreau has been criticized for verbally abusing players and making derogatory comments to them in front of the orchestra during rehearsals. He lacks any formal training as a conductor and has been cited for amateurish skills and inability to maintain a beat.
Boudreau's wife, Kathleen, assists with the organization of the AWSO. She is currently writing a book on the history of the AWSO from her perspective throughout the years. Together they have planned all the group's tours, reared a large family, and farmed over 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) in Pennsylvania.
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, which is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
, and which is known for having commissioned over 400 new works.http://www.timreynish.com/america.htm Based in Mars
Mars, Pennsylvania
Mars is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 1,746 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Mars is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , all of it land....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(just north of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
), United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the AWSO was founded and directed for 50 years by the American conductor (and former trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er) Robert Austin Boudreau (b. 1927).
The group, whose membership changes from year to year, typically comprises young professional musicians. Many of the works it performs feature an unusually large instrumentation comprising 4 flute
Western concert flute
The Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player....
s (doubling on piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, alto flute
Alto flute
The alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range...
, and bass flute
Bass flute
The bass flute is the bass member of the flute family. It is in the key of C, pitched one octave below the concert flute. Because of the length of its tube , it is usually made with a "J" shaped head joint, which brings the embouchure hole within reach of the player...
), 4 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s (doubling on English horn
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
and oboe d'amore
Oboe d'amore
The oboe d'amore , less commonly oboe d'amour, is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, between the oboe itself and the cor...
), 4 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s (doubling on contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
and heckelphone
Heckelphone
The heckelphone is a musical instrument invented by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons. Introduced in 1904, it is similar to the oboe but pitched an octave lower.-General characteristics:...
), 4 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s (doubling on E-flat clarinet
E-flat clarinet
The E-flat clarinet is a member of the clarinet family. It is usually classed as a soprano clarinet, although some authors describe it as a "sopranino" or even "piccolo" clarinet. Smaller in size and higher in pitch than the more common B clarinet, it is a transposing instrument in E, sounding a...
, basset horn, bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, and contrabass clarinet
Contrabass clarinet
The contrabass clarinet is the largest member of the clarinet family that has ever been in regular production or significant use. Modern contrabass clarinets are pitched in BB, sounding two octaves lower than the common B soprano clarinet and one octave lower than the B bass clarinet...
), 4-6 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 4-7 horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s, 4-6 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, a bass trombone, and 1-2 tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
s. Percussion, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and celeste
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
are usually included as well, but, unlike most concert band
Concert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
s, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s and euphonium
Euphonium
The euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...
s are never used.
The group performs annually during the summer months on a floating arts center designed by the American architect Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
.http://newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/06/the_boats_of_su.php Point Counterpoint II, constructed in 1961, is the second boat used by the orchestra, the first having been being a converted coal barge named Point Counterpoint. Aboard Point Counterpoint II, which measures 195 feet (59.4 m) long and 38 feet (11.6 m) wide, there are also rooms for up to 13 crew members, staff, and the Boudreaus to live, an art gallery below deck, and a small theater where most of the patrons' concerts take place.http://newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/06/the_boats_of_su.php
Each summer, the group performs on the barge's stage, with the barge anchored in one of Pittsburgh's rivers. The group also travels on the barge, around various waterways of the United States (including the Ohio
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
and Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
Rivers, as well as their tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
), giving concerts along the way.
The orchestra spent three years overseas where they were present for the Bicentennial celebration of France, the 800th Anniversary in England and were the first U.S. vessel in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
.
Boudreau took a hiatus of several years after the 2004 residency but after Hurricanes Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
was compelled to travel to Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
in 2006. The name of that tour was the "Spirit of Louisiana" and the reception in the southernmost cities of Louisiana was so great the orchestra returned for a few weeks in 2007. Boudreau once again announced a retirement as music director following the final concert of the 2007 season at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. A 2008 New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
tour is being developed for June and July. The tour will begin at Highcroft, Boudreau's farm in Pine Township, Pennsylvania
Pine Township, Pennsylvania
Pine Township is the name of some places in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania:*Pine Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania*Pine Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania*Pine Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania...
. The orchestra will have three residencies there, performing on the Caroline Steinman Nunan Amphitheater. The orchestra will then meet up with Point Counterpoint II in Narragansett, Rhode Island
Narragansett, Rhode Island
Narragansett is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 15,868 at the 2010 census, but there is a greater population in the summer. The nickname for the town is "Gansett". The town of Narragansett occupies a narrow strip of land running along the eastern bank...
, and performances in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
will follow for several weeks. The orchestra will then proceed up the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
to the Erie Barge Canal and have closing concerts at the end of July back at Highcroft.
Boudreau's operation of the American Wind Symphony Orchestra has courted controversy over the years. In 1985, Federal marshals arrested him for intentionally sailing the Point Counterpoint II contrary to U.S. Coast Guard regulations.[1] His actions have at times antagonized the larger professional music community of Pittsburgh[2] and caused him to be charged with unfair labor practices regarding the treatment of his musicians.[3] Boudreau has been criticized for verbally abusing players and making derogatory comments to them in front of the orchestra during rehearsals. He lacks any formal training as a conductor and has been cited for amateurish skills and inability to maintain a beat.
Boudreau's wife, Kathleen, assists with the organization of the AWSO. She is currently writing a book on the history of the AWSO from her perspective throughout the years. Together they have planned all the group's tours, reared a large family, and farmed over 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) in Pennsylvania.
Composers commissioned by the AWSO
- Samuel AdlerSamuel Adler (composer)Samuel Hans Adler is an American composer and conductor.-Biography:Adler was born to a Jewish family in Mannheim, Germany, the son of Hugo Chaim Adler, a cantor and composer, and Selma Adler. The family fled to the United States in 1939, where Hugo became the cantor of Temple Emanuel in...
- Samuel Akpabot
- David AmramDavid AmramDavid Amram is an American composer, musician, conductor, and writer. As a classical composer and performer, his integration of jazz , ethnic and folk music has led him to work with the likes of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Willie Nelson, Langston...
- Thom Anderson
- Alexander ArutiunianAlexander ArutiunianAlexander Grigorevich Arutiunian , also known as Arutunian, Arutyunyan, Arutjunjan or Harutiunian Alexander Grigorevich Arutiunian (Arm. Ալեքսանդր Գրիգորի Հարությունյան), also known as Arutunian, Arutyunyan, Arutjunjan or Harutiunian Alexander Grigorevich Arutiunian (Arm. Ալեքսանդր Գրիգորի...
- Blas Atehortua
- Georges AuricGeorges AuricGeorges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum...
- Henk BadingsHenk BadingsHenk Badings was a Dutch composer.Born in Bandung, Java, Dutch East Indies, as the son of Herman Louis Johan Badings, an officer in the Dutch East Indies army, Badings became an orphan at an early age...
- Robert Russell BennettRobert Russell BennettRobert Russell Bennett was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers. In 1957 and 2008, Bennett received Tony Awards...
- Warren BensonWarren BensonWarren Benson was an American composer. His compositions consist mostly of music for wind instruments and percussion...
- Elmer BernsteinElmer BernsteinElmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
- William BolcomWilliam BolcomWilliam Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
- Eugène BozzaEugène BozzaEugène Joseph Bozza was a French composer.Bozza studied composition, conducting, and violin at the Paris Conservatoire. He is known primarily for his chamber music. Bozza's work includes five symphonies, operas, ballets, and many pieces for brass ensemble...
- Henry BrantHenry BrantHenry Dreyfuss Brant was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques.- Biography :...
- Leo BrouwerLeo BrouwerJuan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida is a Cuban composer, conductor and guitarist. He is the grandson of Cuban composer Ernestina Lecuona Casado.-Biography:...
- Casterede, Jacques
- Chou Wen-ChungChou Wen-chungChou Wen-chung , Shandong, China) is a Chinese American composer of contemporary classical music. He emigrated in 1946 to the United States where he lives.-Life:...
- Paul CrestonPaul CrestonPaul Creston was an Italian American composer of classical music.Born in New York City to Sicilian immigrants, Creston was self‐taught as a composer. He was an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity, initiated into the national honorary Alpha Alpha chapter...
- Ton De LeeuwTon De LeeuwAntonius Wilhelmus Adrianus de Leeuw was a Dutch composer. He was known for his experiments with microtonality....
- Daniel DorffDaniel DorffDaniel Dorff is an American composer, and is regarded as one of the most influential of his generation...
- Halim El-DabhHalim El-DabhHalim Abdul Messieh El-Dabh is an Egyptian-born American composer, performer, ethnomusicologist, and educator, who has had a career spanning six decades...
- Akin EubaAkin EubaAkin Euba is a Nigerian composer, musicologist, and pianist.Euba studied composition with Arnold Cooke at the Trinity College of Music, London, obtaining the diplomas of Fellow of the Trinity College London and Fellow of the Trinity College London . He received B.A. and M.A...
- Robert FarnonRobert FarnonRobert Joseph Farnon was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a famous composer of original works , he was recognised as one of the finest arrangers of his generation...
- Luboš FišerLuboš FišerLuboš Fišer was a Czech composer, born in Prague. He was known both for his soundtracks and chamber music. From 1952 to 1956 he studied the composition at the Prague Conservatory as a pupil of Emil Hlobil. From 1956 he studied at the AMU in Prague...
- Jean FrançaixJean FrançaixJean René Désiré Françaix was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style.-Life:...
- Bernd Franke
- Mats Larsson Gothe
- Carmago Guarnieri
- Alan HovhanessAlan HovhanessAlan Hovhaness was an Armenian-American composer.His music is accessible to the lay listener and often evokes a mood of mystery or contemplation...
- J. J. Johnson
- George KleinsingerGeorge KleinsingerGeorge Kleinsinger was an American composer from San Bernardino, California, best known for his collaboration with Paul Tripp on the 1940s children's song "Tubby the Tuba". He also wrote the music for the phonograph record Archy & Mehitabal and the Broadway musical based on the record, Shinbone...
- Norman LloydNorman LloydNorman Lloyd is an American actor, producer, and director with a career in entertainment spanning more than seven decades. Lloyd, who currently resides in Los Angeles, has appeared in over sixty films and television shows....
- Nikolai Lopatnikoff
- Ivana LoudovaIvana LoudováIvana Loudová is a Czech composer.Loudová was born at Chlumec nad Cidlinou. She studied at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts under Miloslav Kabeláč and Emil Hlobil...
- Toshiro MayuzumiToshiro MayuzumiToshiro Mayuzumi was a Japanese composer.-Biography:...
- Robert McBrideRobert McBride (composer)Robert McBride was an American composer and instrumentalist.-Biography:McBride was born in Tucson, Arizona, and learned from an early age to play clarinet, oboe, saxophone and the piano. He studied composition with Otto Luening at the University of Arizona, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in...
- Colin McPheeColin McPheeColin McPhee was a Canadian composer and musicologist. He is primarily known for being the first Western composer to make an ethnomusicological study of Bali, and for the quality of that work...
- Akira MiyoshiAkira MiyoshiAkira Miyoshi is a Japanese composer.Miyoshi was a child prodigy on piano, studying with Kozaburo Hirai and Tomojiro Ikenouchi. He studied French literature at the University of Tokyo, and then at the Paris Conservatory with Henri Challan and Raymond Gallois-Montbrun from 1955 to 1957. He was...
- Oliver NelsonOliver NelsonOliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:...
- Bo NilssonBo NilssonBo Nilsson , is a Swedish composer and lyricist.Bo Nilsson first drew notice as a composer at the age of 18 when his "Zwei Stücke" were performed in a 1956 West German Radio “Musik der Zeit” concert in Cologne...
- Javier Gimenez Noble
- Krzysztof Olczak
- Ben-Zion OrgadBen-Zion OrgadBen-Zion Orgad was an Israeli composer....
- Juan Orrego-SalasJuan Orrego-SalasJuan Antonio Orrego Salas is a Chilean composer of contemporary classical music and musicologist.He was a student of Randall Thompson and Aaron Copland in the United States, and later he settled in that country in the early 1960s to work at Indiana University, where he co-founded the Latin...
- Krzystof Penderecki
- Andrei PetrovAndrei PetrovAndrey Pavlovich Petrov was a Russian and Soviet composer. Andrey Petrov is known for his music for films such as I Step Through Moscow, Beware of the Car, and Office Romance.-Life:...
- Zbigniew Pniewski
- Carlos Rafael Rivera
- Joaquín RodrigoJoaquín RodrigoJoaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez , commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success...
- Bernard RogersBernard RogersBernard Rogers was an American composer.Rogers was born in New York City. He studied with Arthur Farwell, Ernest Bloch, Percy Goetschius, and Nadia Boulanger. He taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, The Hartt School, and the Eastman School of Music...
- Ned RoremNed RoremNed Rorem is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer and diarist. He is best known and most praised for his song settings.-Life:...
- Ramon Santos
- Jerzy Sapieyevski
- Lalo SchifrinLalo SchifrinLalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
- Hale SmithHale SmithHale Smith was an American composer, pianist, educator, arranger, and editor. He was one of the most notable African American composers of the 20th century....
- Harry SomersHarry SomersHarry Stewart Somers, CC was the foremost English-Canadian composer of his period.He was born in middle-class Toronto in 1925 but did not become interested in music until his early teenage years, when he met a doctor and his wife, both pianists, who introduced him to classical music...
- Gottfried Stoeltzel
- Carlos SurinachCarlos SurinachCarlos Surinach was a Catalan Spanish-born composer and conductor.He was born in Barcelona, where he held conducting posts at the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona and the Gran Teatre del Liceu...
- Erkki-Sven TüürErkki-Sven TüürErkki-Sven Tüür is an Estonian composer.Tüür was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition with Jaan Rääts at the Tallinn Academy of Music and privately with Lepo Sumera from 1980 to 1984...
- Ivan TcherepninIvan TcherepninIvan Tcherepnin was an experimental, then later modernist/postmodernist, composer. He was born into a highly musical family, his father and grandfather, Alexander and Nikolai, being distinguished Russian composers, and his mother Ming a well-known pianist...
- Sergei Tcherepnin
- Roberto Valera
- Heitor Villa-LobosHeitor Villa-LobosHeitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
- Healey WillanHealey WillanHealey Willan, was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and piano...
- Patrick Zuk