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Eric Salzman
Photo: Sbjoiner1, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons14

Eric Salzman

American classical composer

Eric Salzman (September 8, 1933 – November 12, 2017) was an American composer, scholar, author, impresario, music critic, and record producer. He is best known for his contributions to 'New Music Theater,' a concept he advanced through both his compositions and writings.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Eric Salzman (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Sep 8, 1933, died Nov 13, 2017.1

About

He established it as an independent art form, distinct from grand opera and popular musicals, both aesthetically and economically. He co-founded the American Music Theater Festival and was, at the time of his death in 2017, Composer-in-Residence at the Center for Contemporary Opera.

Salzman's one true opera, Big Jim and the Small-Time Investors (written and revised between 1985 and 2017), was developed in workshops at CCO in 2010 and 2014. It received its world-premiere production at Symphony Space in 2018, five months after his death, praised by Opera News as "truly a fine piece of post-modern creative work." Performers of his works include the New York Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic; conductors Pierre Boulez, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Dennis Russell Davies and Lukas Foss; ensembles Western Wind and Kronos Quartet; soloists Philip Langridge, Mary Thomas, Elise Ross, Stanley Silverman, Alan Titus, Rinde Eckert, Igor Kipnis, Paul Zukofsky, Theo Bleckmann, Thomas Young; actors Stacy Keach, John O'Hurley and Paul Hecht.

From Wikipedia’s article on Eric Salzman, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • 1956Princeton University Master of Fine Arts3 4
  • Date not recordedColumbia University3
  • Date not recordedForest Hills High School3 4
  • Date not recordedHigh School of Music & Art3
  • Date not recordedColumbia University School of the Arts3

Salzman was born September 8, 1933, in New York City and attended Forest Hills High School (1946–1950).

After studying composition privately (1949–51) with Morris Lawner, who taught at the New York High School of Music and Art, he continued his studies at Columbia University (1954 Bachelor of Arts), majoring in music and minoring in literature. At Columbia, his teachers included Jack Beeson, Lionel Trilling, Otto Luening, and Vladimir Ussachevsky.

He pursued postgraduate work at Princeton University (1956 master of fine arts) with Milton Babbitt, Roger Sessions, Earl Kim, Edward T. Cone, Arthur Mendel, Oliver Strunk, and Nino Pirrotta. A Fulbright Fellowship (1956 – 58) enabled him to study at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Goffredo Petrassi and at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in Darmstadt with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Bruno Maderna, and Luigi Nono.

From Wikipedia’s article on Eric Salzman (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: music critic, composer, university teacher, journalist, writer.4 7

  • 1964 to 1966Music critic, The New York Herald Tribune4 5
  • Since 1958Music critic, The New York Times4 5
  • Date not recordedWorked at Queens College5
  • Date not recordedWorked at New York University5
  • Date not recordedFounded Prince Music Theater6

Personal life

  • BornSep 8, 1933, Queens4 8
  • DiedNov 13, 2017, Brooklyn4 9
  • CitizenshipUnited States10

Salzman was married to environmental activist, writer, and Green Party founding member Lorna Salzman (née Jackson) from 1955 until his death. They had two daughters, the poet Eva Salzman and composer/songwriter Stephanie Salzman.

Salzman was an avid birdwatcher and an expert in bird calls of Eastern Long Island.

He died on November 12, 2017, from a heart attack, aged 84.

From Wikipedia’s article on Eric Salzman (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • Date not recordedFulbright Scholarship11

Sources

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