Talib Rasul Hakim is an American composer. Born Stephen Alexander Chambers on February 8, 1940 in Asheville, North Carolina, he grew up playing music in school, studying clarinet, piano, and singing in church choir. He later studied music at the Manhattan School of Music, New York College of Music, and the New School for Social Research, New York. His teachers include Morton Feldman

Morton Feldman

Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...

, Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....

, Margaret Bonds

Margaret Bonds

Margaret Allison Bonds was an American composer and pianist. One of the first black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States, she is best remembered today for her frequent collaborations with Langston Hughes.-Life:...

, Robert Starer

Robert Starer

Robert Starer was an Austrian-born American composer and pianist.Robert Starer began studying the piano at age 4 and continued his studies at the Vienna State Academy...

, Hall Overton

Hall Overton

Hall Franklin Overton was an American composer, jazz pianist, and music teacher. He was born in Bangor, Michigan...

, Chou Wen-Chung

Chou Wen-chung

Chou Wen-chung , Shandong, China) is a Chinese American composer of contemporary classical music. He emigrated in 1946 to the United States where he lives.-Life:...

, William Sydeman, Hale Smith

Hale Smith

Hale Smith was an American composer, pianist, educator, arranger, and editor. He was one of the most notable African American composers of the 20th century....

, and Charles Whittenberg

Charles Whittenberg

Charles Whittenberg was an American composer and holder of two Guggenheim Fellowships....

.

Hakim first came to attention in the wider music community through appearances of his works on the "Music in Our Time" concert series in New York in the mid-1960s. He received awards and residencies from the Bennington Composers Conference (1964–90) and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts (1981–2), as well as ASCAP, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...

, and the Creative Artist Public Service Program. In addition to composing, Hakim taught at Pace College, Adelphi University, Nassau Community College, and Morgan State University, as well as working as a radio and television producer.

Hakim changed his name in 1973 after converting to Sufism

Sufism

Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...

. He died March 31, 1988 in New Haven, Connecticut.

List of works

Mutations (1964) bass clarinet, horn, trumpet, viola, cello

Six Players and Voice (1964) Soprano, clarinet, trumpet, cello, 2 percussion, and piano

Four (1965) Clarinet, trumpet, trombone, piano

Piano Piece (1965) Piano

Shapes(1965) Chamber Orchestra

Three Play Short Five (1965) Bass clarinet, percussion, bass

Contours (1966) Oboe, Bassoon, horn, trumpet, cello, bass

Currents (1967) String Quartet

Elements (1967) Flute/alto flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin/viola, cello, piano, glass and bamboo wind and hand chimes

Roots and Other Things (1967) Flute/alto flute, oboe/EH, clarinet/bass clarinet, trumpet, horn, trombone, viola, cello, bass

Sound-Gone (1967) Piano

Inner-Sections (1967) Flute, clarinet, trombone, piano, percussion

Sound Images (1969) Brass, 3 percussion, strings, female chorus

Tone-Poem (1969) Soprano, percussion, contrabass, and piano (text by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes

James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...

)

Placements (1970) Piano, percussion

Set-Three (1970) Soprano, cello, piano

Timelessness (1970) Flugelhorn, horn, trombone, tuba, 2 percussion, bass, and piano

Uranian-Projections (1970) Soprano, percussion, and piano

Visions of Ishwara (1970) Orchestra

Reflections on the 5th Day (1972) Narrator, chamber orchestra

Concepts (1974) Orchestra

Recurrences (1974) Orchestra

Arkan- 5 (1980–81) Chamber Orchestra

Lailatu'l-Qadr (The Night of Power) (1984) Bass clarinet, bass, percussion

Az-Zaahir-Al Batin(The Outward-The Inward) (1985–86) Orchestra