Bruce Abel
Encyclopedia
Biography
Abel studied singingSinging
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
under Hans Heinz, where he excelled in studies of French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
art songs and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
lieder. He won a Fulbright Fellowship in 1962 which enabled him to pursue further studies in the lieder and oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
repertoire in Stuttgart, Germany with Hermann Reutter, Lore Fischer and Elinor Junker-Giesen. He went on to win several international singing competitions: Enrico Caruso Competition New York (1st prize, 1963), Concours International Geneve (1st prize, 1963), Mozart Wettbewerb Vienna (2nd prize, 1963), ARD International Music Competition
ARD International Music Competition
The ARD International Music Competition is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is held once a year in Munich.-History:...
(prize for Lied, 1964), International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition
International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition
The International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition is a music competition in Leipzig, Germany, held by the Bach-Archiv Leipzig. It was founded in 1950 and was held every four years from 1964 to 1996 with five subjects and is now held every two years with three changing subjects...
in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
(1st prize, 1964).
He gained international fame during the 1960s and 1970s for his numerous appearances in concerts in Northern America and throughout Europe as well as singing on numerous recordings. He was notably a soloist in the 1971 world premiere of Fritz Werner
Fritz Werner
Fritz Werner was a German choral conductor, church music director, conductor, organist and composer...
’s Whitsun Oratorio in Heilbronn, Germany.
In 1974 he joined the voice faculty at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart
State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart
The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany...
.
He is a National Patron of Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.-History:...
, an international, professional music fraternity.
Bruce Abel is married to pianist Waltraud Poser.
Sources
- Bruce Abel at bach-cantatas.com]