George Crumb

George Crumb (born October 24, 1929) is an American composer of modern and avant garde music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres. Examples include spoken flute (one speaks while blowing into the instrument) and glass marbles poured onto an open piano)

Biography

Crumb was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and began to compose at an early age. He studied music first at the University of Illinois, and then briefly in Berlin before returning to the United States to study at the University of Michigan.

Related Topics:
Charleston, West Virginia - Music - University of Illinois - Berlin - University of Michigan

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Although his scores and recordings sell steadily, Crumb has earned his living primarily from teaching. His first teaching job was at a college in Virginia, before he became professor of piano and composition at the in 1958. In 1965 he began a long association with the University of Pennsylvania, becoming Annenberg Professor of the Humanities in 1983. Some of his most prominent students include Margaret Brouwer, Uri Caine, Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, and Gerald Levinson.

Related Topics:
Virginia - University of Pennsylvania - Margaret Brouwer - Uri Caine - Osvaldo Golijov - Jennifer Higdon - Gerald Levinson

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Crumb retired from teaching in 1997, though in early 2002 was appointed with David Burge to a joint residency at Arizona State University. He has continued to compose.

Related Topics:
David Burge - Arizona State University

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Crumb has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1968 for his orchestral work Echoes of Time and the River.

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