Biography
Harold Schiffman (b. 1928; Greensboro, North Carolina) has composed in virtually all media. His commissions include those from such diverse groups as the Tallahassee Symphony, the International Trombone Association, the Apple Trio, the Concertino String Quartet, the Mallarmé Chamber Players, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music, as well as from a number of individuals including conductor Richard Burgin, flutist Albert Tipton, soprano Janice Harsanyi, pianist Jane Perry-Camp, and pianist/conductor Max Lifchitz (for North/South Consonance). The North Carolina Symphony and the ARTEA Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco, among others, have premièred his music. In January 1981, New York's Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, was the site of a twenty-five year retrospective of Mr. Schiffman's compositions, with the performance of both solo and chamber works there. Then in November 1992, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, honored him with an all-Schiffman concert of performances ranging from large ensemble to solo. North/South Consonance celebrated Schiffman's seventieth birthday with a 1998
New York performance of excerpts from
Spectrum, My Ladye Jane's Booke and his seventy-fifth in 2003 with a program of his music in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. In June, 2000,
Extravaganza (1998) for three pianos, twelve hands, was the featured work at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Focus on Piano Literature 2000. In addition to performances in the United States, Mr. Schiffman's music has been presented in Europe, Latin America, and the Far East. His publishers include Associated/
G. Schirmer,
New York; Robert King (Alphonse Leduc, Paris);
Southern Music Co., San Antonio; Columbia Music Co., Chapel Hill; and Andres Editions, Tallahassee.
North/South Recordings N/S R1021, Harold Schiffman: Symphony & Concerti, was released in December, 1999. The disc contains the Györ Philharmonic's performance of Symphony (1961) as well as Concerto for Oboe d'Amore and Strings (1988) with Julie Ann Giacobassi as soloist, and Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1982), Jane Perry-Camp, soloist, both with the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra. The conductor for all three works is Mátyás Antal. Earlier, Max Lifchitz's recording of Schiffman's Nine Piano Pieces (1975) and Six Bagatelles (1954) appears on the debut issue of the North/South Recordings label (N/S R1001). North/South Recordings N/S R 1009 features Jane Perry-Camp's performance of Schiffman's Spectrum, My Ladye Jane's Booke: Eighteen Fugues and Postludes for Piano (1992). Schiffman's Sestetto Concertato (1993) was included on North/South Recordings N/S R 1013 with Max Lifchitz, pianist, and the North/South Consonance Ensemble. His Rhapsody for Guitar (1982) was recorded by guitarist Stephen Robinson on the compact disc The American Record, Centaur Records, CRC 2204. Other works have appeared in the United States on the Amoris International, CRS, Garnet, and Orion labels and in Japan on King, Ltd.
Mr. Schiffman received his education at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The University of California at Berkeley, and The Florida State University, Tallahassee. His principal composition teacher was Roger Sessions with whom he studied at the University of California, as well as privately in Berkeley and again later in Princeton, New Jersey, following three years service (1951-54) in the U. S. Army. In Tallahassee, a further influential mentor was Ernst von Dohnányi. Appointed to the faculty of the Florida State University School of Music in 1959, Harold Schiffman retired from the position of Professor of Composition in 1983 and was designated Professor Emeritus in 1985. He was founding director of the Florida State University Festival of New Music in 1981 and served as chair of the Music Advisory Board of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Publishers
A complete thematic catalog is available from: Andres Editions, 2304 Don Andres Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida 32304-1313
Record Labels
Further Information
For more information about Harold Schiffman, please visit his website at www.haroldschiffman-composer.com
Contact Information
Winter and spring
2304 Don Andres Avenue
Tallahassee, FL 32304-1313
Summer and fall
804 Shepherds Creek Road
Robbinsville, NC 28771
E-mail: Harolds@graham.main.nc.us
