Harold Boatrite is an American composer.

After early studies with Stanley Hollingsworth

Stanley Hollingsworth

Stanley Walker Hollingsworth was an American composer and teacher. He was a student of composer Darius Milhaud from 1944–46, and of Gian Carlo Menotti from 1948–50...

, Harold Boatrite was awarded a fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center

Tanglewood Music Center

The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops designed to provide an intense training and networking experience...

 where he studied composition with Lukas Foss

Lukas Foss

Lukas Foss was a German-born American composer, conductor, and pianist.-Music career:He was born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His father was the philosopher and scholar Martin Fuchs...

 and took part in the orchestration seminars of Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

. In 1961 he was invited by Rudolf Serkin

Rudolf Serkin

Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....

 to be composer-in-residence at the Marlboro Music Festival.

He received an honorary doctorate in 1967 from the Combs College of Music

Combs College of Music

Combs College of Music was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1885 as Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music by Gilbert Raynolds Combs, celebrated pianist,organist and composer....

 and subsequently was appointed to the faculty of Haverford College

Haverford College

Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...

, where he taught theory and composition until 1980. During that time ( 1974 to 1977 ) he served on the music panel of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.Established in 1966, its mission is "to foster the excellence, diversity and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania and to broaden the availability and appreciation of those arts throughout the state." Each year...

.

In honor of his fiftieth birthday in 1982, a series of concerts devoted exclusively to his music was presented by the Pennsylvania Alliance for American Music. Among the participants in the series were the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Thomas Jefferson University

Thomas Jefferson University

Thomas Jefferson University is a private health sciences university in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. The university consists of six constituent colleges and schools, Jefferson Medical College, Jefferson College of Graduate Studies, Jefferson School of Health...

 Choir and the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. Boatrite has written in a wide variety of media ranging from solo and chamber pieces to large-scale choral and orchestral works. His music has been heard throughout the United States and in Europe, most notably, at the Prague Autumn International Music Festival

Prague Autumn International Music Festival

Prague Autumn International Music Festival was the second largest classical music festival in Prague held annually in September. It was organised under the auspices of Václav Klaus, president of the Czech republic and was co-produced by the City of Prague.-History:The history of the festival...

.

He has received many commissions including a concerto for piano and orchestra for the National Association of Composers USA, a concerto for harpsichord and strings commissioned by Temple Painter

Temple Painter

Temple Painter is an American harpsichordist and organist.Temple Painter has performed as solo organist with members of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center under Hermann Scherchen, as harpsichord soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, and as solo harpsichordist for...

, Fantasia on a Gregorian Tune for string orchestra, harpsichord, celesta and boy choir commissioned by the Samuel S. Fels Fund, and a ballet, "Childermas," for CBS-TV which premiered on national television in 1969.

In 1992 Boatrite was appointed composer-in-residence for the Conductors Institute at the University of South Carolina. He served for many years as new music consultant to the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. His chamber music is recorded on the Capstone label and his orchestral scores are housed in
the Edwin A. Fleisher Orchestral Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia

Free Library of Philadelphia

The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:History of the Free Library of Philadelphia: Initiated by the efforts of Dr...

.

One of Boatrite's current projects is the completion of a series of Latin motets for unaccompanied chorus.

Selected works

• "Study on a Welsh Tune" for Pipe Organ (1953)
• Song Cycle: Night Songs for High Voice and Piano (words by Lydia Ann Francis and Edgar Allan Poe) (1954–1960)
• Sonata for Piano (1956)
• Three Alleluias for A Cappella Chorus (1957)
• Lyric Suite for Piano (1957)
• Elegy for String Orchestra (1958)
• String Quartet (1959)
• Sonata-Fantasia for Harpsichord (1960)
• Sonata for Cello and Piano (1961)
• Suite for Harpsichord (1961)
• Sonata for Flute and Piano (1963)
• Concerto for Harpsichord and String Orchestra (1964)
• Voluntary for Three Trumpets and Organ (1964)
• Serenade for Oboe and Strings (1965)
• Largo and Allegro for Piano and Orchestra (Piano concerto) (1972)
• "War Anthem for Chorus and Orchestra" (A.K.A. Choral Elegy) Words by Stephen Crane (1973)
• "Fantasia on a Gregorian Tune" for Harpsichord, Celesta, Strings and Boy Choir (1982)
• Villanelle: Rounds for A Cappella Chorus (Words by Frank Wilson) (1984)
• A Cappella Motets: "Qui Seminant", "Ave Maria", "The Holy Child" (1984–2004)
• Seven Miniatures for Piano (1965–1997)
• Adagio and Fugue for String Orchestra (2000)
• Three Etudes for Piano Requiring the Middle Pedal (2004)
• A Cappella Motet: "Clamaverunt Justi" (2006)

Selected Music

Suite for Harpsichord; Pastorale

Performer: Temple Painter

Suite for Harpsichord; Chaconne

Performer: Temple Painter