Jefferson Friedman
Encyclopedia
Jefferson Friedman is an American composer
.
, where he studied with John Corigliano
, and his B.A. from Columbia University
, where his teachers included David Rakowski and Jonathan Kramer
. He has also studied with George Tsontakis
and Christopher Rouse.
s)." His work has been performed throughout the United States and abroad, most notably at the Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts
, Lincoln Center
's Alice Tully Hall
and Avery Fisher Hall
, the Brooklyn Academy of Music
, Carnegie Hall
's Weill Recital Hall, the Hollywood Bowl
, and the American Academy in Rome
.
Mr. Friedman has been commissioned three times by Leonard Slatkin
and the National Symphony Orchestra
; his works March, The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly, and Sacred Heart: Explosion were all written for the NSO. March is a brief closing piece, commissioned by the orchestra as part of the Hechinger Encores series. The Throne and Sacred Heart are the second and third sections of a planned orchestral trilogy entitled In the Realms of the Unreal, each movement of which is based on the life and work of a different American "outsider" or "visionary" artist.
The Throne is a musical depiction of Washington outsider artist
James Hampton's (19091964) incredible sculptural work of the same name. After its premiere, The Washington Post
described the piece as having "ambitious scale and complexity" The piece has subsequently been performed by the New York Philharmonic
at Lincoln Center's Avery Fischer Hall, and by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
at the Hollywood Bowl.
In October 2007, the NSO commissioned and premiered a revised version of Mr. Friedman's Sacred Heart: Explosion. Sacred Heart: Explosion is based on the work of visionary artist Henry Darger
, of Chicago (18921972), and the original version of the piece was composed while Mr. Friedman was still a student at Juilliard. After the premiere of the revised version, The Washington Times
reported that it was "thoroughly modern, highly intelligent music."
In addition to his works for orchestra, Mr. Friedman has written two string quartet
s for the Chiara String Quartet
. His String Quartet No. 2 has been published by G. Schirmer
, Inc. as part of the New American Voices series, and has been recorded by The Corigliano Quartet
for their Naxos
debut CD. Of Mr. Friedman's String Quartet No. 3, Sequenza 21 reported, ". . . about two-thirds of the way through, something special happens: the instruments climb into their highest registers, start playing quick glissandos and unisons of varying vibrato widths, and, for a few breathless moments, break into birdsong. When the music returns to Earth again, the resolution is beautiful, and one realizes one has just heard something a little amazing."
Both string quartets are performed frequently. String Quartet No. 2 was featured with new choreography by Brian Reeder at Columbia University
's Miller Theatre
, and selections from both String Quartets Nos. 2 and 3 were performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
, as part of a festival honoring John Corigliano
for his 70th birthday.
Recent highlights for Mr. Friedman include the Chicago premiere of Sacred Heart: Explosion by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
in June 2008. In addition, a live recording of the National Symphony Orchestra's premiere of this piece is included as part of an exhibit called "Dargerism: Contemporary Artists and Henry Darger" at The American Folk Art Museum
in New York, which runs from April 15 through September 21, 2008. The 16-minute piece will be broadcast three times per hour throughout the exhibit, and Mr. Friedman's scores and score sketches are also on display. Also in June, Mr. Friedman's String Quartets Nos. 2 and 3 were performed by the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) as part of the Wordless Music Series at The Whitney Museum of American Art
.
In February 2009, Miller Theater presented an evening-length concert featuring only Mr. Friedman's music as part of its Composer Portraits series. Two pieces were composed for the concert, the first is a 25-minute piece for solo piano, written for Simone Dinnerstein
and commissioned by Miller Theater for this performance. The second is a set of songs for rock singer and chamber ensemble, which premiered by former Shudder To Think
band member Craig Wedren
, with ACME.
In addition to his work as a composer, Mr. Friedman has performed with a number of rock band
s, including Shudder To Think, and recently collaborated with the electronic music
duo Matmos
, contributing string arrangements for their album The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
. He lives and composes in Long Island City, NY
. With the exception of String Quartet No. 2, his catalog is self-published
by Montana 59 Music.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Life
He received his M.M. degree in music composition from The Juilliard SchoolJuilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, where he studied with John Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
, and his B.A. from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where his teachers included David Rakowski and Jonathan Kramer
Jonathan Kramer
Jonathan Donald Kramer , was a U.S. composer and music theorist.- Biography :...
. He has also studied with George Tsontakis
George Tsontakis
George 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...
and Christopher Rouse.
Career
His music has been called "impossible to resist" by The New York Times, and Sequenza 21 reports, "[Mr. Friedman] goes a lot further toward sustaining interest and tension than composers twice his age (and with Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
s)." His work has been performed throughout the United States and abroad, most notably at the Kennedy Center
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...
for the Performing Arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
, Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
's Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assisted in the construction of the hall...
and Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
, the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
, Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
's Weill Recital Hall, the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
, and the American Academy in Rome
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome.- History :In 1893, a group of American architects, painters and sculptors met regularly while planning the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
.
Mr. Friedman has been commissioned three times by Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...
and the National Symphony Orchestra
National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra , founded in 1931, is an American symphony orchestra that performs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.-History:...
; his works March, The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly, and Sacred Heart: Explosion were all written for the NSO. March is a brief closing piece, commissioned by the orchestra as part of the Hechinger Encores series. The Throne and Sacred Heart are the second and third sections of a planned orchestral trilogy entitled In the Realms of the Unreal, each movement of which is based on the life and work of a different American "outsider" or "visionary" artist.
The Throne is a musical depiction of Washington outsider artist
Outsider Art
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
James Hampton's (19091964) incredible sculptural work of the same name. After its premiere, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
described the piece as having "ambitious scale and complexity" The piece has subsequently been performed by the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
at Lincoln Center's Avery Fischer Hall, and by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
at the Hollywood Bowl.
In October 2007, the NSO commissioned and premiered a revised version of Mr. Friedman's Sacred Heart: Explosion. Sacred Heart: Explosion is based on the work of visionary artist Henry Darger
Henry Darger
Henry Joseph Darger, Jr. was a reclusive American writer and artist who worked as a custodian in Chicago, Illinois...
, of Chicago (18921972), and the original version of the piece was composed while Mr. Friedman was still a student at Juilliard. After the premiere of the revised version, The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
reported that it was "thoroughly modern, highly intelligent music."
In addition to his works for orchestra, Mr. Friedman has written two string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s for the Chiara String Quartet
Chiara String Quartet
The Chiara String Quartet is an internationally performing professional string quartet based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The group is the Quartet-in-residence at the School of Music in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is also the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University...
. His String Quartet No. 2 has been published by G. Schirmer
G. Schirmer
G. Schirmer Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. It publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-known European music publishers in North America, such as the Italian Ricordi, Music Sales Affiliates ChesterNovello,...
, Inc. as part of the New American Voices series, and has been recorded by The Corigliano Quartet
Corigliano Quartet
The Corigliano Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1996 with the blessing of the Pulitzer-, Grammy-, and Oscar-winning John Corigliano. "They are truly one of the great quartets of the new generation," said the composer...
for their Naxos
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
debut CD. Of Mr. Friedman's String Quartet No. 3, Sequenza 21 reported, ". . . about two-thirds of the way through, something special happens: the instruments climb into their highest registers, start playing quick glissandos and unisons of varying vibrato widths, and, for a few breathless moments, break into birdsong. When the music returns to Earth again, the resolution is beautiful, and one realizes one has just heard something a little amazing."
Both string quartets are performed frequently. String Quartet No. 2 was featured with new choreography by Brian Reeder at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's Miller Theatre
Miller Theatre
Miller Theatre at Columbia University is located on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University. It is a performing arts producer dedicated to developing and presenting new music....
, and selections from both String Quartets Nos. 2 and 3 were performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
, as part of a festival honoring John Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
for his 70th birthday.
Recent highlights for Mr. Friedman include the Chicago premiere of Sacred Heart: Explosion by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
in June 2008. In addition, a live recording of the National Symphony Orchestra's premiere of this piece is included as part of an exhibit called "Dargerism: Contemporary Artists and Henry Darger" at The American Folk Art Museum
American Folk Art Museum
The American Folk Art Museum is a museum devoted to American folk art, as well as the work of international self-taught artists. It has branches at 45 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in Midtown Manhattan .In May 2011 the Museum of Modern Art bought its 53rd Street location...
in New York, which runs from April 15 through September 21, 2008. The 16-minute piece will be broadcast three times per hour throughout the exhibit, and Mr. Friedman's scores and score sketches are also on display. Also in June, Mr. Friedman's String Quartets Nos. 2 and 3 were performed by the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) as part of the Wordless Music Series at The Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
.
In February 2009, Miller Theater presented an evening-length concert featuring only Mr. Friedman's music as part of its Composer Portraits series. Two pieces were composed for the concert, the first is a 25-minute piece for solo piano, written for Simone Dinnerstein
Simone Dinnerstein
Simone Dinnerstein is an American classical pianist who became celebrated, both critically and commercially, for her self-financed recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations, released in 2007.-Education:...
and commissioned by Miller Theater for this performance. The second is a set of songs for rock singer and chamber ensemble, which premiered by former Shudder To Think
Shudder to Think
Shudder to Think is an American indie rock group. Formed in 1986, they released three albums on the Washington, D.C.-based label Dischord Records and were a post-hardcore band, although they drew upon a wide range of stylistic influences, including pop....
band member Craig Wedren
Craig Wedren
Craig Wedren is the former lead singer of Shudder to Think and now the lead for the newer pop-mash project, "BABY".Wedren has also contributed vocals to the musical act Tweaker with Chris Vrenna, formerly of Nine Inch Nails, The Verve Pipe's self-titled album, the musical act Cex, The Dead...
, with ACME.
In addition to his work as a composer, Mr. Friedman has performed with a number of rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
s, including Shudder To Think, and recently collaborated with the electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
duo Matmos
Matmos
Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore signed to the Matador Records label. M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances, including...
, contributing string arrangements for their album The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast is the sixth full-length album by Matmos. The concept of the album is that each song is dedicated to a person who has influenced the duo, which is reflected in the songs themselves; "Rag for William S...
. He lives and composes in Long Island City, NY
Long Island City, Queens
Long Island City is the westernmost neighborhood of the borough of Queens in New York City. L.I.C. is notable for its rapid and ongoing gentrification, its waterfront parks, and its thriving arts community. L.I.C. has among the highest concentration of art galleries, art institutions, and studio...
. With the exception of String Quartet No. 2, his catalog is self-published
Self-publishing
Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including design , formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR...
by Montana 59 Music.
Awards
- 2004 Rome PrizeRome PrizeThe Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists and to 15 scholars The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists...
Fellowship in Musical CompositionMusical compositionMusical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :... - ASCAPAmerican Society of Composers, Authors, and PublishersThe American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them...
Leo Kaplan Award - BMI Student Composer AwardBMI FoundationThe BMI Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization founded in 1985 by executives of Broadcast Music Incorporated for the purpose of "encouraging the creation, performance and study of music through awards, scholarships, internships, grants, and commissions." Additionally, the Foundation makes...
- ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award
- Palmer-Dixon Prize
- top prize in the Juilliard Orchestra Competition.