Joel Eric Suben
Encyclopedia
Joel Eric Suben is an American composer and conductor known primarily for his recordings of music by contemporary American and European composers.
origin. He grew up in the small city of Cortland
in Central New York
. After showing signs of early musical talent, Suben began studying the trumpet and violin at age 8. He played in school bands and orchestras and sang in choirs throughout his childhood.
At age 10, Suben began transcribing music from phonograph records. By age 13 he was creating arrangements for local dance bands. His music teachers encouraged him to study a number of instruments in the expectation that he would become a music teacher. During summers he undertook formal lessons in percussion (snare drum technique), clarinet, and string bass. Although he'd led dance bands as a teenager, his interests gravitated to classical music. At age 14 he auditioned for Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
conductor Karl Kritz and was invited to play violin in the Symphony’s newly formed youth orchestra.
at Syracuse University
but declined a scholarship offer from the university in favor of a scholarship to study trumpet at the Eastman School of Music
. In deference to his father’s wishes, Suben enrolled in a liberal arts degree program at the nearby University of Rochester
and traveled to the Eastman campus for trumpet lessons and theory classes. In his second year, Suben transferred his enrollment entirely to Eastman and concentrated largely on composition and violin studies. He was allowed to declare a major in composition only after he won first prize in 1967 in a nationwide competition for composers. The winning composition, a setting of Psalm 100 for tenor voice and organ, was published by Bellwin-Mills (who bought out H.W. Gray, the co-sponsors, along with the American Guild of Organists, of the competition). Suben left Eastman in 1969 with a B.Mus. degree cum laude.
As a full fellowship doctoral student (1969–1972) at Brandeis University
near Boston, Suben studied composition and theory under Seymour Shifrin, Arthur Berger
, Harold Shapero
, and Martin Boykan
, and studied musical paleontology with Leo Treitler. Increasingly in demand as a conductor of other composers’ works, Suben took a one-year position as orchestra conductor at Northeastern University and held simultaneous music directorships at a local church and synagogue. In March 1973 he led what is believed to be the Boston premiere of Darius Milhaud’s Service Sacré with an enlarged chorus and members of the orchestra of the Opera Company of Boston
.
In spring 1973 Suben resigned from all of his directorships, moved to New York City, and began four years of intensive private conducting study with Jacques-Louis Monod
. During this time Suben ceased all composing activity and made an intensive study of the standard orchestral and opera repertoire. In 1975 he was admitted to Otmar Suitner
’s conductors’ class at the Mozarteum Sommerakademie in Salzburg; at the end of his second summer in Salzburg (1976) he was a finalist in the Hans Haring International Competition for Conductors, administered annually by the music division of the Austrian Radio. During the run-up to the final round, the jury summoned Suben back to the podium three times to rehearse the orchestra in Anton Webern
’s Six Pieces for Orchestra, op. 6.
In August 1976 Witold Rowicki
, visiting professor at the Vienna Music Academy (now called die Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien), admitted Suben into his conductors’ master class and subsequently invited him to come to Warsaw, where Rowicki was artistic director of the National Philharmonic (Filharmonia Narodowa). Suben won a Fulbright Fellowship and, following a month-long composition residency at the MacDowell Colony
, arrived in Warsaw only to discover that Rowicki had retired from the directorship of FN. Suben lived from September 1977 until December 1978 in Katowice, where he was officially a composition student (in fact, the first American student) of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki in that city’s music academy (now called Akademia Muzyczna im. Karola Szymanowskiego). During his tenure in Katowice, Suben organized a series of orchestral performances of contemporary American music; he also conducted the Rybnik Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ogniwo Choir. Suben’s final activity as a student came in 1984 when he was admitted to the master class for conductors given by Sergiu Celibidache
at the Curtis Institute of Music
.
and Baruch College
(he had taught courses at both institutions from 1974–1977). He also completed his doctoral dissertation during this time, one part being the full score to a large composition (his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra [1978]), the other a theoretical paper ("Debussy and Octatonic Pitch Structure"). Armed with a Ph.D. from Brandeis, he took a professorship at the University of Richmond
(VA), where in the fall of 1980 he organized an orchestral concert honoring American hostages in Iran. This concert attracted considerable media attention.
In 1983 he joined the music faculty of the College of William & Mary, where he remained until 1992 as Director of Orchestras. During this time Suben taught a number of private conducting and composition students. While at W&M, Suben formed a chamber orchestra and created an annual series of the six Brandenburg Concerti of J.S. Bach in the historic Bruton Parish Chapel. He also inaugurated a contemporary music ensemble and an opera workshop at W&M and in November 1989 gave the world premiere of American composer Philip James
’s cantata To Cecilia with the William & Mary Orchestra and Chorus.
In 1992 Suben resigned from his position at William & Mary, returned to live permanently in New York, and formed Save The Music, inc. as a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation. Apart from a three-year tenure as conductor of the Wellesley Philharmonic (the student orchestra at Wellesley College) during the mid-1990s, Suben has held no further permanent academic positions.
and Roger Sessions
; Beth Anderson
; F. diArta Angeli; Mary Jeanne Van Appledorn
; Elizabeth Austin
; Ross Bauer; Jon Bauman; Joseph Bertolozzi
; Larry Thomas Bell; Charles R. Berry; Hayes Biggs; Allan Blank; Peter Blauvelt; Harold Blumenfeld
; Allen Brings; Eleanor Cory
; Richard Brooks; Michael Dellaira; Emma Lou Diemer
; Brian Fennelly; Jerzy Fitelberg; Vittorio Furgeri; Steve Heitzeg; Katherine Hoover
; Stefania de Kenessey; David Kowalski; Leo Kraft
; Philip Lasser
; John Melby
; Karol Rathaus; Frank Retzel; Marga Richter
; Judith Shatin
; Max Schubel; Edward Sielicki; William Grant Still
; Kile Smith; Walter Ross; A. L. Scarmolin; Marilyn Shrude
; John Sichel; Elias Tanenbaum; Roberto Toscano; Joelle Wallach
; Raymond Wojcik; Rolf Yttrehus; Mark Zuckerman.
Early Years
Born in the Bronx, Suben was the second of three sons in a middle-class Jewish family of RussianRussians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
origin. He grew up in the small city of Cortland
Cortland, New York
Cortland is a city in Cortland County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 18,740. It is the county seat of Cortland County.The City of Cortland, near the west border of the county, is surrounded by the Town of Cortlandville....
in Central New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. After showing signs of early musical talent, Suben began studying the trumpet and violin at age 8. He played in school bands and orchestras and sang in choirs throughout his childhood.
At age 10, Suben began transcribing music from phonograph records. By age 13 he was creating arrangements for local dance bands. His music teachers encouraged him to study a number of instruments in the expectation that he would become a music teacher. During summers he undertook formal lessons in percussion (snare drum technique), clarinet, and string bass. Although he'd led dance bands as a teenager, his interests gravitated to classical music. At age 14 he auditioned for Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra was a 79 member orchestra located in Syracuse, NY. In its time it was the 43rd largest orchestra in the United States and performed a variety of programs including the Post-Standard Classics Series and M&T Bank Pops Series....
conductor Karl Kritz and was invited to play violin in the Symphony’s newly formed youth orchestra.
Advanced studies
During Suben’s final year of high school he auditioned for Louis KrasnerLouis Krasner
Louis Krasner was a renowned Ukrainian-born American classical violinist who premiered the violin concertos of Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg.-Biography:...
at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
but declined a scholarship offer from the university in favor of a scholarship to study trumpet at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
. In deference to his father’s wishes, Suben enrolled in a liberal arts degree program at the nearby University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
and traveled to the Eastman campus for trumpet lessons and theory classes. In his second year, Suben transferred his enrollment entirely to Eastman and concentrated largely on composition and violin studies. He was allowed to declare a major in composition only after he won first prize in 1967 in a nationwide competition for composers. The winning composition, a setting of Psalm 100 for tenor voice and organ, was published by Bellwin-Mills (who bought out H.W. Gray, the co-sponsors, along with the American Guild of Organists, of the competition). Suben left Eastman in 1969 with a B.Mus. degree cum laude.
As a full fellowship doctoral student (1969–1972) at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
near Boston, Suben studied composition and theory under Seymour Shifrin, Arthur Berger
Arthur Berger
Arthur Victor Berger was an American composer who has been described as a New Mannerist.-Biography:Born in New York City, of Jewish descent, Berger studied as an undergraduate at New York University, during which time he joined the Young Composer's Group, as a graduate student under Walter Piston...
, Harold Shapero
Harold Shapero
Harold Samuel Shapero is an American composer.-Early years:Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Shapero and his family later moved to nearby Newton. He learned to play the piano as a child, and for some years was a pianist in dance orchestras. With a friend, he founded the Hal Kenny Orchestra, a swing-era...
, and Martin Boykan
Martin Boykan
Martin Boykan was born on April 12, 1931 in New York City. He is an American composer known for his chamber music as well as music for larger ensembles. He married the silverpoint artist Susan Schwalb in 1983.-Biography:...
, and studied musical paleontology with Leo Treitler. Increasingly in demand as a conductor of other composers’ works, Suben took a one-year position as orchestra conductor at Northeastern University and held simultaneous music directorships at a local church and synagogue. In March 1973 he led what is believed to be the Boston premiere of Darius Milhaud’s Service Sacré with an enlarged chorus and members of the orchestra of the Opera Company of Boston
Opera Company of Boston
The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active during the late 1950s through the early 1990s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Group. At one time, the touring arm of the...
.
In spring 1973 Suben resigned from all of his directorships, moved to New York City, and began four years of intensive private conducting study with Jacques-Louis Monod
Jacques-Louis Monod
Jacques-Louis Monod is an influential French-born, American domiciled composer, pianist and conductor of 20th century and contemporary music.-Paris 1940s: early years under Messiaen and Leibowitz:...
. During this time Suben ceased all composing activity and made an intensive study of the standard orchestral and opera repertoire. In 1975 he was admitted to Otmar Suitner
Otmar Suitner
Otmar Suitner was an Austrian conductor who spent most of his professional career in East Germany. He was born in Innsbruck and died in Berlin. He was Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden from 1960 to 1964, and then Music Director at the Berlin State Opera from 1964 to 1990...
’s conductors’ class at the Mozarteum Sommerakademie in Salzburg; at the end of his second summer in Salzburg (1976) he was a finalist in the Hans Haring International Competition for Conductors, administered annually by the music division of the Austrian Radio. During the run-up to the final round, the jury summoned Suben back to the podium three times to rehearse the orchestra in Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
’s Six Pieces for Orchestra, op. 6.
In August 1976 Witold Rowicki
Witold Rowicki
Witold Rowicki was a Polish conductor. He held principal conducting positions with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.His recordings include:...
, visiting professor at the Vienna Music Academy (now called die Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien), admitted Suben into his conductors’ master class and subsequently invited him to come to Warsaw, where Rowicki was artistic director of the National Philharmonic (Filharmonia Narodowa). Suben won a Fulbright Fellowship and, following a month-long composition residency at the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, arrived in Warsaw only to discover that Rowicki had retired from the directorship of FN. Suben lived from September 1977 until December 1978 in Katowice, where he was officially a composition student (in fact, the first American student) of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki in that city’s music academy (now called Akademia Muzyczna im. Karola Szymanowskiego). During his tenure in Katowice, Suben organized a series of orchestral performances of contemporary American music; he also conducted the Rybnik Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ogniwo Choir. Suben’s final activity as a student came in 1984 when he was admitted to the master class for conductors given by Sergiu Celibidache
Sergiu Celibidache
- Biography :Celibidache was born in Roman, Romania, and began his studies in music with the piano, after which he studied music, philosophy and mathematics in Bucharest, Romania and then in Paris...
at the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
.
Academic career
Returning to New York in 1979, Suben resumed teaching part-time at Fordham UniversityFordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
and Baruch College
Baruch College
Bernard M. Baruch College, more commonly known as Baruch College, is a constituent college of the City University of New York, located in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, New York City. With an acceptance rate of just 23%, Baruch is among the most competitive and diverse colleges in the nation...
(he had taught courses at both institutions from 1974–1977). He also completed his doctoral dissertation during this time, one part being the full score to a large composition (his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra [1978]), the other a theoretical paper ("Debussy and Octatonic Pitch Structure"). Armed with a Ph.D. from Brandeis, he took a professorship at the University of Richmond
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...
(VA), where in the fall of 1980 he organized an orchestral concert honoring American hostages in Iran. This concert attracted considerable media attention.
In 1983 he joined the music faculty of the College of William & Mary, where he remained until 1992 as Director of Orchestras. During this time Suben taught a number of private conducting and composition students. While at W&M, Suben formed a chamber orchestra and created an annual series of the six Brandenburg Concerti of J.S. Bach in the historic Bruton Parish Chapel. He also inaugurated a contemporary music ensemble and an opera workshop at W&M and in November 1989 gave the world premiere of American composer Philip James
Philip James
Philip James was an American composer, conductor and music educator.Note: Composer and shakuhachi player Phil James is listed as Phil Nyokai James.-Life:...
’s cantata To Cecilia with the William & Mary Orchestra and Chorus.
In 1992 Suben resigned from his position at William & Mary, returned to live permanently in New York, and formed Save The Music, inc. as a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation. Apart from a three-year tenure as conductor of the Wellesley Philharmonic (the student orchestra at Wellesley College) during the mid-1990s, Suben has held no further permanent academic positions.
Stylistic evolution
Suben’s earliest serious compositions (e.g. Sonata da Camera [1966] for four violins), written while he was still in his teens, reflected a conservative aesthetic and an adherence to the trappings of tonality, prevalent characteristics of new works being composed then at the Eastman School. In his early and mid twenties, Suben’s work acquired a chromatic overlay that reflected the preoccupations of many of his peers and teachers with 12-tone procedures (e.g. Birthday Fragment [1972] for chorus and piano). His works from 1977 onward (following the three-year composing hiatus) are fully dodecaphonic (e.g. Concert Piece for Clarinet and Wind-Band [1977]). After 1978 his work began to show some influences of Witold Lutosławski and Witold Szalonek, the leading Polish composers of highly coloristic, voluptuous chromatic music of the time (e.g. Träume auf Dichterhöhe [1978] for horn and string orchestra), but notably no trace of any influence by his teacher Górecki. By the late 1980s Suben had began to write functionally tonal music (e.g. Symphony in Old Style [1987], Winter Love [1988], Song Book [1989] for treble voices a cappella, Concerto Classico [1991] for flute and orchestra) while he continued to turn out highly detailed 12-tone works (e.g. Suite of Dances [1987] for 2 guitars, Seven Days [1992] for mezzo soprano and piano).Recent works
After 1993, Suben's compositional output diminished in direct proportion to his growing activity in making recordings. Between 1994 and 2010 his compositional output consists entirely of: television commercial music (1994) for Granta Magazine (aired on PBS networks), Breve Sogno (1994) for large orchestra (his last completed 12-tone work), Fantasy-Variations on a Theme of Maria Theresia von Paradis (1999) for violin and orchestra, Seven (2004) for chorus a cappella, Ciacconetta (2008) for viola and orchestra, and Three Images (2010) for cello and orchestra.Awards, prizes, commissions
- First Prize (1967) in Composition Competition of American Guild of Organists/H.W. Gray Publishers [Make a Joyful Noise for tenor voice and organ, publ. Bellwin Mills 1971]
- First Prize (1967) in Sacred Song Composition contest of Eastman School of Music [Behold, How Good and Pleasant for tenor and organ, publ. ACE 1980]
- Virginia Music Teachers Association First Prize and Commission (1981) [Sonatina for Piano, ACA]
- First Prize (1982) in Music Teachers National Association National Composers Competition [Sonatina for Piano]
- Commission (1981) from Congregation Beth Ahaba [Ha-Azinu] for tenor solo, speaking chorus, and string quartet]
- Commission (1982) from the Roxbury (NY) Chamber Players [The Birth of Euphrosyne for flute, clarinet, violin, cello]
- First Prize (1986) in Washington Square Contemporary Music Series nationwide competition for composers [Idyls for 2 pianos]
- First Prize (1987) in Bucks County (PA) Symphony Composition Competition [Academic Overture]
- Commission (1989) from guitarist William Anderson [Where All the Waters Meet]
- Commission (1999) from Verna Fine to orchestrate Irving FineIrving FineIrving Gifford Fine was an American composer. Fine's work assimilated neo-classical, romantic and, later, serial elements...
’s Second Alice Suite, originally written for chorus and piano, for chorus and orchestra; publ. Boosey & Hawkes. - AEVentures Foundation grant (2008) to record his own orchestral works.
Publishers
Suben’s compositions are published by American Composers Alliance, Boosey & Hawkes (arrangement of work by Irving Fine), Bourne Company Music Publishing, E.F. Kalmus Co., Schott Music International/European American Music, and Warner/Belwin.Conducting activity
Professional orchestral positions
- Music Director/Permanent Conductor, Peninsula Symphony of Virginia (Newport News) 1982–1987 (orchestra declared bankruptcy April 1987).
- Music Director/Conductor, Center Orchestra (Jewish Community Center, Margate NJ) 1986–1988 (orchestra disbanded April 1988).
Important guest conducting activity
- American Symphony Orchestra (New York) 1977
- Silesian State Philharmonic (Filharmonia Śląska)(Katowice, Poland) 1986, 1994
- Filharmonia Częstochowska (Częstochowa, Poland) 1992, 1994
- Filharmonia Białostocka (Białystok, Poland) 1992
- Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) more than 10 times since 1993
- Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra (Janáčková Filharmonie) (Ostrava, Czech) 1994, 1996
- Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOSR)(Bratislava) more than 10 times from 1995–2002
- North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (Severočeská Filharmonie Teplice) 1996
- Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (Filharmonia Narodowa) 1998 at Warsaw Autumn Festival
- Filharmonia Koszalińska (Koszalin, Poland) 2002
- Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra (Moravská Filharmonie Olomouc)(Czech) more than 10 times since 2002
- Rzeszów Philharmonic Orchestra (Orkiestra Filharmonia Rzeszowska)(Poland) 2005 (Mahler Symph. no. 4)
Recording activity
As of 2010 Suben appears as conductor on more than 50 commercially released recordings, all but one of which he has made since founding Save The Music, Inc. in 1992. Among the composers whose works Suben has recorded are Pulitzer Prize winners Leslie BassettLeslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett is an American composer of classical music, and the University of Michigan’s Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition...
and Roger Sessions
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions was an American composer, critic, and teacher of music.-Life:Sessions was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a family that could trace its roots back to the American revolution. His mother, Ruth Huntington Sessions, was a direct descendent of Samuel Huntington, a signer of...
; Beth Anderson
Beth Anderson
Beth Anderson is an American neo-romantic composer. She studied with John Cage, Terry Riley, Robert Ashley, and Larry Austin, among others. She was born in Lexington, Kentucky, USA and grew up in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky...
; F. diArta Angeli; Mary Jeanne Van Appledorn
Mary Jeanne van Appledorn
Mary Jeanne van Appledorn is an American composer of contemporary classical music and pianist....
; Elizabeth Austin
Elizabeth Austin
Elizabeth Austin is an American writer living in Oak Park, Illinois. Austin has lived in the Midwestern United States all her life. After beginning her journalistic career at the now-defunct City News Bureau of Chicago, she has written articles for national news magazines such as Newsweek and Time,...
; Ross Bauer; Jon Bauman; Joseph Bertolozzi
Joseph Bertolozzi
Joseph Bertolozzi is an American composer and musician with works ranging from full symphony orchestra to solo gongs to suspension bridge...
; Larry Thomas Bell; Charles R. Berry; Hayes Biggs; Allan Blank; Peter Blauvelt; Harold Blumenfeld
Gregg Smith Singers
The Gregg Smith Singers is a mixed chorus from the United States, directed by Gregg Smith . The group, which comprises 16 singers, was founded at an all-Japanese Methodist church in West Los Angeles, California in 1955, while Smith was studying for his master's degree in music at the University of...
; Allen Brings; Eleanor Cory
Eleanor Cory
Eleanor Cory is an American composer.Cory studied at Sarah Lawrence College, Harvard University, New England Conservatory, and Columbia University...
; Richard Brooks; Michael Dellaira; Emma Lou Diemer
Emma Lou Diemer
Emma Lou Diemer is an American composer. Diemer has written many works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, keyboard, voice, chorus , and electronic media...
; Brian Fennelly; Jerzy Fitelberg; Vittorio Furgeri; Steve Heitzeg; Katherine Hoover
Katherine Hoover
Katherine Hoover is an American flautist, conductor and composer. She was born in Elkins, West Virginia, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree and performer's certificate from the Eastman School of Music in 1959. She continued her studies at the Manhattan School of Music graduating with...
; Stefania de Kenessey; David Kowalski; Leo Kraft
Leo Kraft
Leo Kraft is an American composer, author, and educator.He holds degrees from Queens College and Princeton University. He studied composition with Karol Rathaus, Randall Thompson, and Nadia Boulanger...
; Philip Lasser
Philip Lasser
Philip Lasser is an American composer, pianist, and music theorist. He is a professor of music at the Juilliard School in New York City.-Career and contributions:...
; John Melby
John Melby
John Melby is an American composer.-Life and work:John Melby is most widely-known for his numerous compositions for computer-synthesized sounds, particularly in combination with live acoustic instruments...
; Karol Rathaus; Frank Retzel; Marga Richter
Marga Richter
-Biography:Marga Richter was born in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, the daughter of soprano Inez Chandler-Richter . She studied piano at the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis with Irene Hellner and with Helena Morsztyn in New York...
; Judith Shatin
Judith Shatin
Judith Shatin is an American composer. Currently, she is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor at the University of Virginia.She also founded and is Director of the Virginia Center for Computer Music.-References:...
; Max Schubel; Edward Sielicki; William Grant Still
William Grant Still
William Grant Still was an African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions. He was the first African American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major...
; Kile Smith; Walter Ross; A. L. Scarmolin; Marilyn Shrude
Marilyn Shrude
Marilyn 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:...
; John Sichel; Elias Tanenbaum; Roberto Toscano; Joelle Wallach
Joelle Wallach
Joelle Wallach is an American composer. As a girl she lived for a few years in Morocco before returning to the United States to attend the Juilliard School's pre-college program where she studied the piano, singing, theory and composition. She attended Sarah Lawrence College where she earned a...
; Raymond Wojcik; Rolf Yttrehus; Mark Zuckerman.
Notable performances and recordings
- April 1975: first appearance in Weill Hall (then called Carnegie Recital Hall), leading the premiere of Mar-ri-ia-a, a chamber opera by Joseph Olive.
- May 1977: first in-school performances with the American Symphony Orchestra (ASO) in New York.
- March 1984: world premiere performances with Peninsula Symphony of Virginia of Landscapes with Figure by Edgar Warren Williams, Jr.
- April 1986: subscription concerts and in-school programs for school children with Filharmonia Śląska; Suben was the first American citizen to lead that orchestra since Fritz MahlerFritz MahlerFritz Mahler was an Austrian conductor.Mahler's father was a cousin of the composer Gustav Mahler. In Europe he became a leading conductor with such ensembles as the Berlin Radio Symphony, the Dresden Philharmonic and the Danish State Symphony. He fled Europe in 1936 for the United States...
did so in the 1950s; Suben included the world premiere of Refraction by Stephen Dembski, who composed the work for that occasion. - December 1995: recording of Roger Sessions Piano Concerto with Barry Salwen and the Polish Radio National Symphony (NOSPR) for the Roger Sessions Society of America; recording never released commercially.
- March 1998: archival recordings for Polish Radio with NOSPR, works by Karol Rathaus and Edward Sielicki.
- September 1998: live performance at Warsaw Autumn Festival and commercial recordings with Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (FN), including world premiere of Columbus by Elias Tanenbaum.
- April 2001: live performance and commercial recording of Italian operas La Serenata Interrotta and Battaglie Perdute of A. L. Scarmolin with international soloists, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and Bratislava Conservatory Chorus; sponsored by the A.L. Scarmolin Trust and the American Embassy in Bratislava.
- June 2002: more archival recordings with NOSPR for Polish Radio, works by K. Rathaus and Jerzy Fitelberg (frequently broadcast in radio transmissions in Poland, UK, Netherlands, France).
- August 2009: studio recording of the Haydn Cello Concerti with Robert deMaine and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra (MFO); pending commercial release in 2011.
Symphony for Kids®
In March 2009 Suben inaugurated an in-school live performance experience for school-age audiences featuring performances of major works of orchestral repertoire with a handpicked orchestra of New York City freelance musicians.Discography
Of Suben’s more than 50 commercially released recordings, the following are among the most significant:- New Music for Orchestra—Leslie Bassett and other American composers. Opus One CD #156 (1995)
- Larry Thomas Bell: The Sentimental Music and other orchestral works. North/South CD # NS1031 (2004).
- Harold Blumenfeld: Vers Sataniques. Albany Records Troy CD 1034 (nominated for ASCAP Rudolf Nissim Recording Prize 2008)
- Michael Dellaira: Five. Albany Records Troy CD 487
- The Orchestra According to the Seven (works of Stefania de Kenessey, M. Dellaira, John Sichel and others. Opus One CD #170 (1996)
- In Wildness is the Preservation of the World (works of Brian Fennelly). New World Records CD 80448-2 (1994)
- Chrysalis (works of B. Fennelly). Albany Records Troy CD 491 (2002)
- Music of Brian Fennelly. CRI CD 759 (1997)
- Orchestral Excursions (works of Howard Harris and Marga Richter). Leonarda CD LE351 (2000)
- Night Skies—Orchestral Music of Katherine Hoover. Parnassus CD PACD 96019 (1998)
- Leo Kraft: Music for Symphony Orchestra. Centaur CD CRC 2620 (2005)
- John Melby: "Concerti". Albany Records Troy CD 1124 (2009)
- Karol Rathaus: Orchestral Works. Centaur CD CRC 2402 (1998)
- Anthony Louis Scarmolin: Orchestral Works. Naxos 8.559012 / Marco Polo 8.225031 (1998)
- Piping the Earth—Orchestral Music of Judith Shatin. Capstone CPS 8727 (2003)
- Modern Classics, Vol. VI (works of David Kowalski, Elias Tanenbaum, Rolv Yttrehus). MMC #2104 (2001)
- Akin to Fire—The Orchestral Music of Raymond Wojcik. Albany Troy 898 (2006)
- Joelle Wallach—Shadow: Sighs, and Songs of Longing. Capstone CPS 8689 (2001)
- The Music of Rolv Yttrehus. CRI CD #843 (2000)
- Mark Zuckerman: New Music for Strings. MSR Classics, MS 1223 (2002)
Public persona
In the role of a public music personality during much of his career, Suben has displayed a tendency to engage in polemics. After reading a review of a performance of one of his earliest acknowledged (and therefore arguably listener-friendly) compositions, Suben wrote a letter to the editor protesting the critic’s fixation on the fact that the piece under review was the work of a student. In a newspaper interview about the inauguration of a new chamber music series that he co-founded, Suben evidently used a term (“…take-no-prisoners programming”) that the arts page editor exploited in boldface large type.External links
- Albany Records
- Centaur Records
- New World Records
- NAXOS
- American Music Center
- www.composers.com
- Wikipedia (Netherlands) for Joel Eric Suben
- Wikipedia (Netherlands) for Edgar Warren Williams
- www.save-themusic.org