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Composers Bureau
Karel Husa
Biography
Karel Husa, a Pulitzer Prize winner in music, is a world-renowned composer and conductor who was a lecturer in composition at
Ithaca
College
and Kappa Alpha professor at
Cornell
University
from 1954 until his retirement. An American citizen since 1959, Husa was born in
Prague
on August 7, 1921 He studied at Prague Conservatory and
Academy
of
Music
and later at the National Conservatory and Ecole Normale de Musique in
Paris
. Among his teachers were Arthur Honeger, Nadia Boulanger, Jaroslav Ridky, and conductor Andre Cluytens.
Husa was elected Associate Member of the
Royal
Belgian
Academy
of Arts and Sciences in 1974 and to the
American
Academy
of Arts and Letters in 1994. He has received honorary doctorates from
Coe
College
, the Cleveland Institute of Music,
Ithaca
College
,
Baldwin
Wallace
College
,
St. Vincent
College
,
Hartwick
College
, the New England Conservatory,
Masaryk
University
, and Acadmey of Musical Arts (
Czech
Republic
). He has been the recipient of many awards and recognitions including the Guggenheim Fellowship and awards from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and letters, UNESCO, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Koussevitsky Foundation, the Czech Academy for the Arts and Sciences, the Lili Bulanger Award, Bilthoven (Holland) Contemporary Music Prize, a Kennedy Center-Friedheim Award and his Concerto for Wind Ensemble received the first Sudler Award and his Concerto for Cello and Orchestra earned him the 1993 Grawmeyer Award. In 1995, Husa was awarded the
Czech
Republic
’s highest civilian recognition, the State Medal of Merit, First Class, and in 1998, he received the Medal of the City of
Prague
.
His String Quartet No. 3 received the 1969 Pulitzer Prize and, with over 7,000 performances, his Music for
Prague
1968 has become part of the modern repertory. His works have were commissioned by the New York Philharmonic: the Concerto for Orchestra premiered by Zbin Mehta and the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra written for the concertmaster Glen Dicterow and conducted by Kurt Mazur. The Concerto for Trumpet was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Sir Georg Solti for performances with principal trumpeter Adolph Herseth. Among his recent compositions are the String Quartet No. 4 (an NEA commission for the Colorado Quartet, Cayuga Lake (for
Ithaca
College
’s centennial celebration), and Les couleurs fauves for wind ensemble (written for
Northwestern
University
).
Karel Husa has conducted many major orchestra including those in
Paris
,
London
,
Hamburg
,
Brussels
,
Prague
,
Stockholm
,
Oslo
,
Zurich
, Hong Kong,
Tokyo
,
Singapore
,
New York
,
Boston
,
Washington
,
Cincinnati
,
Rochester
,
Buffalo
,
Syracuse
,
Louisville
, and others. Every year he visits the campuses of music schools and universities to guest conduct and lecture on his music.
Performances
Concertino for Piano and Wind Ensemble: Chicago Midwest Clinic 12/15 05: Illinois St. Univ.M.Shenan, sol.S.Steel Cond.; Eastman School of Music: 5/06: Eastman Wind Ensemble, I. Drinkanova, sol., M. Scattedray, cond.; 11/06 Larvik Wind Orchetra, R.B. Bekkhus, sol. O.T.Lysebo, Cond.; Cornell University Wind Ensemble, B. Bryski, sol., C.T. Jonston, Cond. Ithaca, NY.
Music For
Prague
1968 Orchestra Version: New
Japan
Philharmonic, Tatsuya Shimono, cond.,
Tokyo
3/23/06; Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra. V. Yampolsky, Cond. 4/22/06,
Evanston
,
IL
.
; Janacek Philharmonic, T. Kuchar, Cond.
Czech Republic
, Nov. 4-5, 2006: Band Version: Illinois St. University, S. Steele, Cond. Midwest International Clinic,
Chicago
, 12/15; University of
North Carolina
, Wind Ensemble, Dr. M. Votta, Cond. 10/28 Chapel Hill, NC; Japan Band Convention, Oklahoma State University, Joseph Missal, Cond., 2006; University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Laura Rexroth, Cond. 4/16/05, Amherst, MA.
String Quartet No. 4, FMA Quartest, Philharmonic Hall, 2/4/06 and 2/22/06,
Prague
.
Elegie et Rondau, Petrick Meighan,
Shanghai Conservatory
,
China
.
Evovations of
Slovakia
J. Hlavac & Stamic Quartet, Vienn and
Madrid
(April 2006) and Luis Slaby Trio,
Buenos Aires
.
Honors
Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from
University of Central
Arkansas
Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from
Capital
University
,
Columbus
,
OH
.
New Publications
Eight Bohemian Sketches for flute, clarinet, and piano; Schott
New Recordings
Apotheosis of the Earth, Music for
Prague
1968, Louisville Orchestra, Karel Husa and George Mester, Cond., First Edition Recording.
Compositions - available from G. Schirmer, Inc. and Associated
Music Publishers, Inc. unless otherwise noted.
Further Information
Contact Information
1032 Hanshaw Rd. (May through October)
Ithaca, NY 14850
or
4535 South Atlantic Ave. #2106 (November through April)
Ponce Inlet, FL 32127
For personal appearances, interviews, or other specific inquiries, please contact:
Stanton Management, New York
Phone: 718-956-6092
Fax: 718-956-5385
Email: TDStanton@aol.com
Website: www.StantonMgt.com
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