Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, December 25, 2008
ROBERT BAKS
ROBERT BAKSA , born in New York City in 1938 of Hungarian Parentage, is one of America's
most prolific composers. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona and eventually earned a BA in Composition at the University of Arizona. He returned to live in New York City in the early 60s. He has written more than 500 pieces of music since his first efforts as a teenager. Since his earliest New York reviews critics have noted his melodic gifts, the structural clarity and harmonious nature of his music. His first pieces, short piano pieces written in the early 1950s which he later arranged for wind trio, are in fact still being performed around the world. His numerous choral pieces have been performed in many countries and his art songs have been featured in two recent studies on the subject of American Art Song.
His first opera "Aria da Capo" to the play by Edna St. Vincent Millay, was premiered at the Lake George Opera Festival in 1969. His second operatic work, "Red Carnations," which was commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Metropolitan Opera Studio, has been performed dozens of times as an introduction to opera for young people.
For the past three decades chamber music has been a major focus and he has written over 70 works for a wide variety of combinations as well as sonatas for most of the major instruments.
One of the earliest of these works, the Flute Sonata #1, written in 1976 but not premiered until the late 1980's was among the winners in the 1994 Newly Published Music Competition sponsored by the National Flute Association. More recently his Accordion Sonata was commissioned by the American Accordion Association.
Performers who have been associated with his music include Harpsichordist Elaine Comparone who has commissioned a number of works, Saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, Sharon Robinson, The Boehm Wind Quintet, the Virtuosi Wind Quintet, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, the Sylvan Winds and the St.
Luke's Chamber Ensemble which began its existence with a full evening of Baksa's music.
The composer makes his home in Columbia County in the Mid Hudson Valley where he serves as New Music Coordinator for the Pleshakov Music Center in Hudson, New York
most prolific composers. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona and eventually earned a BA in Composition at the University of Arizona. He returned to live in New York City in the early 60s. He has written more than 500 pieces of music since his first efforts as a teenager. Since his earliest New York reviews critics have noted his melodic gifts, the structural clarity and harmonious nature of his music. His first pieces, short piano pieces written in the early 1950s which he later arranged for wind trio, are in fact still being performed around the world. His numerous choral pieces have been performed in many countries and his art songs have been featured in two recent studies on the subject of American Art Song.
His first opera "Aria da Capo" to the play by Edna St. Vincent Millay, was premiered at the Lake George Opera Festival in 1969. His second operatic work, "Red Carnations," which was commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Metropolitan Opera Studio, has been performed dozens of times as an introduction to opera for young people.
For the past three decades chamber music has been a major focus and he has written over 70 works for a wide variety of combinations as well as sonatas for most of the major instruments.
One of the earliest of these works, the Flute Sonata #1, written in 1976 but not premiered until the late 1980's was among the winners in the 1994 Newly Published Music Competition sponsored by the National Flute Association. More recently his Accordion Sonata was commissioned by the American Accordion Association.
Performers who have been associated with his music include Harpsichordist Elaine Comparone who has commissioned a number of works, Saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, Sharon Robinson, The Boehm Wind Quintet, the Virtuosi Wind Quintet, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, the Sylvan Winds and the St.
Luke's Chamber Ensemble which began its existence with a full evening of Baksa's music.
The composer makes his home in Columbia County in the Mid Hudson Valley where he serves as New Music Coordinator for the Pleshakov Music Center in Hudson, New York
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