Yehudi Wyner

Yehudi Wyner (born June 1, 1929 in Calgary, Alberta) is an American composer, pianist, conductor, and music educator.

Wyner, who grew up in New York City, was raised in a musical family. His father, Lazar Weiner, was an eminent composer of Yiddish art songs. Wyner attended Juilliard, Yale, and Harvard. He has written music in a variety of genres, including compositions for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo voice, and solo instruments, as well as theatrical music and settings of the Jewish liturgy. Among his best-known works are the "Friday Evening Service" (1963) for cantor and chorus, and "On This Most Voluptuous Night" (1982) for soprano and chamber ensemble.

Wyner taught for fourteen years at Yale, where he was head of the composition faculty. He has also taught at SUNY Purchase, Cornell, Brandeis, and Harvard.

In 2006, Wyner won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his piano concerto "Chiavi in Mano". [http://www.pulitzer.org/2006/2006.html] [http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/4365.html]

elected works

*"Partita" - for piano, 1952
*Concert duo for violin and piano (1956)
*Serenade for flute, horn, trumpet, trombone, viola, ’cello, piano (1958)
*"The Mirror" (1972-3)
*"Intermedio" - Lyric ballet for soprano and strings - October 1974
*"The Grass is High" - for voice and piano (1979)
*String quartet (1984-1985)
*"Composition" for viola and piano (1987)
*"Amadeus’ billiard" : for violin, viola, bass, bassoon and 2 horns : (cf. Mozart-- Divertimento no. 7, K. 205) (1991)
*Prologue and narrative : for cello and orchestra (1994)
*Horntrio (1997)
*"The second madrigal": Voices of women (1999)
*Quartet for oboe and stringtrio (1999) ( [http://www.schirmer.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=3&ComposerID_2872=3050&CategoryID_2872=37] )
*"Commedia" : for clarinet in B♭ and piano (2003)

Degrees

*Yale University, M.Mus. (1953)
*Harvard University, M.A. (1952)
*Yale University, B.Mus. (1951)
*Yale University, B.A. (1950)
*Juilliard School, Diploma (1946)

Notable students

*Chester Biscardi
*Craig Walsh

References

* [http://www.yehudiwyner.com/ Composer's homepage]
* [http://www.milkenarchive.org/artists/artists.taf?artistid=161 Biography from the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music]
* [http://www.schirmer.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&composerId_2872=3050 Biography from Schirmer Inc. Associated Music Publishers]
* [http://www.brandeis.edu/facguide/one?unetid=110108109117110112113110 Faculty profile from Brandeis University]