Kennedy Center Friedheim Award
Encyclopedia
The Kennedy Center Friedheim Award was an annual award given for instrumental music composition by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
in Washington, D.C.
. It was established in 1978 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFD81030F933A1575BC0A96F948260 and ended in 1995. The award was given only to American composers.
The award was established by Eric Friedheim (1910–2002), the publisher of Travel Agent magazine and a patron of the arts, and funded by the Eric Friedheim Foundation and the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund. He endowed the award in honor of his father, the pianist Arthur Friedheim
(1859–1932), who had studied with Franz Liszt
.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E5DF123EF935A3575AC0A9649C8B63
The first prize was US$5,000, the second prize was $2,500 (originally $2,000), the third prize was $1,000, and the fourth prize was $500. There was no fourth prize until 1984, and the third prize was originally $500. The winners were narrowed down from often over 100 entries, to four or five finalists. The works were performed and the awards were given at an awards ceremony, which was held each year at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The award alternated every other year between orchestral and chamber music.
From 1978 to 1995, 18 Friedheim Awards concerts were performed, drawn from 1,883 submissions, and a total of $158,500 in cash prizes was distributed to 70 American composers.
The awards came to an end following the last ceremony in 1995, when Eric Friedheim decided to withdraw his financial support, choosing to instead donate his remaining financial assets to the Peabody Institute
.
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. It was established in 1978 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFD81030F933A1575BC0A96F948260 and ended in 1995. The award was given only to American composers.
The award was established by Eric Friedheim (1910–2002), the publisher of Travel Agent magazine and a patron of the arts, and funded by the Eric Friedheim Foundation and the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund. He endowed the award in honor of his father, the pianist Arthur Friedheim
Arthur Friedheim
Arthur Friedheim was a Russian-born pianist, conductor and composer who was one of Franz Liszt's foremost pupils.Friedheim was born in Saint Petersburg in 1859. He began serious study of music at age eight...
(1859–1932), who had studied with Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E5DF123EF935A3575AC0A9649C8B63
The first prize was US$5,000, the second prize was $2,500 (originally $2,000), the third prize was $1,000, and the fourth prize was $500. There was no fourth prize until 1984, and the third prize was originally $500. The winners were narrowed down from often over 100 entries, to four or five finalists. The works were performed and the awards were given at an awards ceremony, which was held each year at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The award alternated every other year between orchestral and chamber music.
From 1978 to 1995, 18 Friedheim Awards concerts were performed, drawn from 1,883 submissions, and a total of $158,500 in cash prizes was distributed to 70 American composers.
The awards came to an end following the last ceremony in 1995, when Eric Friedheim decided to withdraw his financial support, choosing to instead donate his remaining financial assets to the Peabody Institute
Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a renowned conservatory and preparatory school located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland at the corner of Charles and Monument Streets at Mount Vernon Place.-History:...
.
1978
- Vincent PersichettiVincent PersichettiVincent Ludwig Persichetti was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, Persichetti was a native of Philadelphia...
(first place) - Aurelio de la Vega (second place)
- Stanisław Skrowaczewski (third place)
1979
- George RochbergGeorge RochbergGeorge Rochberg was an American composer of contemporary classical music.-Life:Rochberg was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He attended the Mannes College of Music, where his teachers included George Szell and Hans Weisse, and the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Rosario Scalero and...
(first place) - Claude BakerClaude BakerW. Claude Baker Jr. is an American composer of contemporary classical music.Claude Baker attained a B.M. degree, magna cum laude, from East Carolina University in 1970. He subsequently studied composition at the Eastman School of Music with Samuel Adler and Warren Benson, and holds M.M. and D.M.A...
(second place) - Claus Adams (third place)
1980
- John HarbisonJohn HarbisonJohn Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
(first place) - Jacob DruckmanJacob DruckmanJacob Druckman was an American composer born in Philadelphia. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1950 he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood and later continued his studies at the École Normale de...
(second place) - Ramon Zupko (third place)
1981
- Joseph SchwantnerJoseph SchwantnerJoseph C. Schwantner is a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer and educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize....
(first place) - Peter Tod Lewis (second place, tie)
- Ezra LadermanEzra LadermanEzra Laderman is an American composer of classical music.-Biography:His parents, Isidor and Leah, both emigrated to the United States from Poland. Though poor, the family had a piano. Ezra writes, "At four, I was improvising at the piano; at seven, I began to compose music, writing it down...
(second place, tie) - Dan LocklairDan LocklairDan Locklair is an American composer. He holds the position of Composer-in-Residence at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where he is also a Professor of Music...
(honorable mention)
1982
- Gundaris PoneGundaris PoneGundaris Pone was a Latvian-born American composer of contemporary classical music, conductor, and professor....
(first place) - David Del TrediciDavid Del TrediciDavid Del Tredici, born March 16, 1937 in Cloverdale, California, is an American composer. According to Del Tredici's website, Aaron Copland said David Del Tredici "is that rare find among composers — a creator with a truly original gift...
(second place) - Thomas Ludwig (third place)
1983
- Thomas Oboe LeeThomas Oboe LeeThomas Oboe Lee is a Chinese American composer.- Life :He and his family left Communist China in 1949, and lived in Hong Kong for ten years until 1959, when he moved to São Paulo, Brazil. He emigrated to the USA in the summer of 1966.His musical education began in Brazil during the Bossa Nova craze...
(first place) - George PerleGeorge PerleGeorge Perle was a composer and music theorist. He was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. Perle was an alumnus of DePaul University...
(second place) - Karel HusaKarel HusaKarel Husa is a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition...
(third place)
1984
- Edward ApplebaumEdward ApplebaumEdward Applebaum is an American composer of contemporary classical music.He began his career as a jazz pianist and conductor. He holds a B.A. , M.A. , and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and also studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden. His primary...
(first place) - William KraftWilliam KraftWilliam Kraft is a composer, conductor, teacher, and percussionist.-Undergrad and Graduate School Years :...
(second place) - Marilyn ShrudeMarilyn ShrudeMarilyn Shrude is an American composer of contemporary classical music and pianist, and Distinguished Artist Professor of composition at Bowling Green State University, since 1977.-Life:...
(third place) - Donald ErbDonald ErbDonald Erb was an American composer best known for large orchestral works such as Concerto for Brass and Orchestra and Ritual Observances.-Early years:...
(fourth place, tie) - Claude BakerClaude BakerW. Claude Baker Jr. is an American composer of contemporary classical music.Claude Baker attained a B.M. degree, magna cum laude, from East Carolina University in 1970. He subsequently studied composition at the Eastman School of Music with Samuel Adler and Warren Benson, and holds M.M. and D.M.A...
(fourth place, tie)
1985
- Robert EricksonRobert EricksonRobert Erickson was an American composer.He studied with Ernst Krenek from 1936-1947: "I had already studied—and abandoned—the twelve tone system before most other Americans had taken it up." He influenced notable students Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, and Paul Dresher...
(first place, tie) - Donald MartinoDonald MartinoDonald Martino was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer.Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino studied composition with Ernst Bacon, Roger Sessions, Milton Babbitt, and Luigi Dallapiccola...
(first place, tie) - Gunther SchullerGunther SchullerGunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
(second place) - Stephen HartkeStephen HartkeStephen Paul Hartke is an American composer. He grew up in Manhattan, where his first piano teacher was Mary Miley, and has lived in California since the 1980s...
(third place) - No fourth place awarded
1986
- Richard WernickRichard WernickRichard Wernick in Boston, Massachusetts is a US composer. He is best known for his composition "Visions of Terror and Wonder," which won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music.-Career:...
(first place, tie) - Bernard RandsBernard RandsBernard Rands is a composer of contemporary classical music.Rands studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna in Darmstadt, Germany, and with Luigi Dallapiccola and Luciano Berio in Milan, Italy.He held residencies...
(first place, tie) - John Adams (second place)
- Joseph SchwantnerJoseph SchwantnerJoseph C. Schwantner is a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer and educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize....
(third place) - No fourth place awarded
1987
- Gunther SchullerGunther SchullerGunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
(first place) - Barbara KolbBarbara KolbBarbara Kolb is an American composer. Her music uses sound masses and often creates vertical structures through simultaneous rhythmic or melodic units . She was the first American woman composer to win the Prix de Rome. She received her B.M. and M.M...
(second place) - Steven MackeySteven MackeySteven Mackey is an American composer, guitarist, and music educator.-Life:As a musician growing up listening to and performing vernacular American musics as well as classical music, Mackey's compositions are informed by rock and jazz, though in an avant-garde vein...
(third place) - Tod MachoverTod MachoverTod Machover , is a composer and an innovator in the application of technology in music. He is the son of Wilma Machover, a pianist and Carl Machover, a computer scientist....
(fourth place)
1988
- Christopher Rouse (first place)
- George RochbergGeorge RochbergGeorge Rochberg was an American composer of contemporary classical music.-Life:Rochberg was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He attended the Mannes College of Music, where his teachers included George Szell and Hans Weisse, and the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Rosario Scalero and...
(second place) - Stephen PaulusStephen PaulusStephen Paulus is an American composer, best known for his operas and choral music. His best-known piece is his 1982 opera The Postman Always Rings Twice, one of several operas he has written for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, which prompted The New York Times to call him "a young man on the road...
(third place) - Joan TowerJoan TowerJoan Tower is a Grammy-winning contemporary American composer, concert pianist and conductor. Lauded by the New Yorker as "one of the most successful woman composers of all time", her bold and energetic compositions have been performed in concert halls around the world...
(fourth place)
1989
- George TsontakisGeorge TsontakisGeorge Tsontakis is an American composer and conductor.Tsontakis studied composition with Hugo Weisgall and Roger Sessions at the Juilliard School from 1974 to 1978, and later with Franco Donatoni at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome...
(first place, tie) - Chinary UngChinary UngChinary Ung is a composer now living in the United States. After arriving in the United States in 1964 to study the clarinet, Ung studied composition with Chou Wen-chung and Mario Davidovsky. Ung is noted for combining traditional Cambodian musical elements with western instrumentation...
(first place, tie) - No second place was awarded
- David LangDavid Lang (composer)David Lang is an American composer living in New York City. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion.-Biography:...
(third place) - Michael DaughertyMichael DaughertyMichael Kevin Daugherty is an American composer, pianist, and teacher. Influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism, Daugherty is one of the most colorful and widely performed American concert music composers of his generation...
(fourth place)
1990
- Ralph ShapeyRalph ShapeyRalph Shapey was an American composer and conductor. He is well-known for his work as a composition professor at the University of Chicago, where he founded and directed the Contemporary Chamber Players...
(first place, tie) - William KraftWilliam KraftWilliam Kraft is a composer, conductor, teacher, and percussionist.-Undergrad and Graduate School Years :...
(first place, tie) - Daron Aric HagenDaron HagenDaron Aric Hagen , is an American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, librettist, and stage director of contemporary classical music and opera.- Early life and education :...
(second place) - Frederick BianchiFrederick BianchiFrederick Bianchi is an American-born composer and music technologist . Central to his work is the integration of acoustic instruments with electronic/computer-generated sound...
(third place) - No fourth place awarded
1991
- Richard WernickRichard WernickRichard Wernick in Boston, Massachusetts is a US composer. He is best known for his composition "Visions of Terror and Wonder," which won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music.-Career:...
(first place) - Donald Crockett (second place)
- Sebastian CurrierSebastian CurrierSebastian Currier is an American composer of music for chamber groups and orchestras. He was also a professor of music at Columbia University from 1999 to 2007.-Life:...
(third place) - Stephen JaffeStephen JaffeStephen Jaffe is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, USA, and serves on the music faculty of Duke University, where he holds the post of Mary and James H. Semans Professor of Music Composition; his colleagues there include composers Scott...
(fourth place)
1992
- Shulamit RanShulamit RanShulamit Ran is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony won her the Pulitzer Prize...
(first place) - Richard WernickRichard WernickRichard Wernick in Boston, Massachusetts is a US composer. He is best known for his composition "Visions of Terror and Wonder," which won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music.-Career:...
(second place) - George TsontakisGeorge TsontakisGeorge Tsontakis is an American composer and conductor.Tsontakis studied composition with Hugo Weisgall and Roger Sessions at the Juilliard School from 1974 to 1978, and later with Franco Donatoni at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome...
(third place) - Emma Lou DiemerEmma Lou DiemerEmma Lou Diemer is an American composer. Diemer has written many works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, keyboard, voice, chorus , and electronic media...
(fourth place)
1993
- David Froom (first place, tie)
- Osvaldo GolijovOsvaldo GolijovOsvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
(first place, tie) - Dean DrummondDean DrummondDean Drummond is an American composer, conductor and musician. His music utilises microtonality, electronics, and a huge variety of percussion...
(second place, tie) - Steven MackeySteven MackeySteven Mackey is an American composer, guitarist, and music educator.-Life:As a musician growing up listening to and performing vernacular American musics as well as classical music, Mackey's compositions are informed by rock and jazz, though in an avant-garde vein...
(second place, tie) - No third or fourth place awarded
1994
- Leon KirchnerLeon KirchnerLeon Kirchner was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his String Quartet No. 3.Kirchner was born in Brooklyn, New York...
(first place) - Tison StreetTison StreetTison C. Street is an American composer of contemporary classical music and violinist.He studied violin with Einar Hansen from 1951 to 1959. He later studied composition at Harvard University with Leon Kirchner and David Del Tredici, receiving B.A. and M.A...
(second place) - John Anthony LennonJohn Anthony LennonJohn Anthony Lennon is an American composer of contemporary classical music based in Georgia. He was raised in Mill Valley, California, and is a professor of composition at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia...
(third place, tie) - Jay Alan YimJay Alan YimJay Alan Yim is an American composer living in Chicago. During the 1995-96 concert season, he served as Composer/Fellow for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra...
(third place, tie) - No fourth place awarded
1995
- Osvaldo GolijovOsvaldo GolijovOsvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
(first place) - Ezequiel ViñaoEzequiel ViñaoEzequiel Viñao is an Argentine-American composer. He emigrated to the United States in 1980 and studied at the Juilliard School...
(second place) - Bright ShengBright ShengBright Sheng is a Chinese-American composer, conductor, and pianist. He has lived in the United States since 1982 and is on faculty at the University of Michigan. In 1999, the White House commissioned Sheng to compose a piece to honor the Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji at a state dinner hosted by...
(third place) - Charles WuorinenCharles WuorinenCharles Peter Wuorinen is a prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. His catalog of more than 250 compositions includes works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, as well as solo instrumental and vocal works...
(fourth place) - Miguel del AguilaMiguel del AguilaMiguel del Águila is an Uruguayan-born American composer of contemporary classical music.-Life:After studies in his native Montevideo, Águila moved to the United States in 1978, where he graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music...
(fifth place)
External links
- Article from The New York Times, 1985
- Article from The New York Times, 1987
- Article from The New York Times, 1989
- Article from The New York Times, 1990
- Article from The New York Times, 1991
- Article from The New York Times, 1992
- Article from The New York Times, 1993
- Article from The New York Times, 1994
- Eric Friedheim obituary from The New York Times, 2002