John Corigliano | |
|---|---|
 Corigliano andSimone Young at theJuilliard School's Piano Concerto Competition Finals in April 2023 inAlice Tully Hall where Corigliano'sPiano Concerto was played byJack Gao. | |
| Born | (1938-02-16)February 16, 1938 (age 88) New York City, US |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Works | List of compositions |
John Paul Corigliano (born February 16, 1938)[1] is an American composer ofcontemporary classical music. With over 100 compositions, he has won accolades including aPulitzer Prize, fiveGrammy Awards,Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, and anAcademy Award.
He is a formerdistinguished professor of music atLehman College and theGraduate Center of theCity University of New York and part of the composition faculty at theJuilliard School. Corigliano is best known for hisSymphony No. 1, a response to theAIDS epidemic, and his film score forFrançois Girard'sThe Red Violin (1997), which he subsequently adapted as the 2003 Concerto for Violin and Orchestra ("The Red Violin") forJoshua Bell.[2]
Corigliano was born inNew York City to a musical family. His Italian-American father, John Paul Corigliano Sr., wasconcertmaster of theNew York Philharmonic for 23 years. Corigliano's mother, Rose Buzen, an educator and pianist,[3] was Jewish.[4]
He attended P.S. 241 andMidwood High School in Brooklyn.[5] He studied composition atColumbia University (BA 1959)[6] and at theManhattan School of Music. He studied withOtto Luening,[3]Vittorio Giannini, andPaul Creston. Before achieving success as a composer, Corigliano worked as assistant to the producer on theLeonard BernsteinYoung People's Concerts and as a session producer for classical artists such asAndré Watts. He was also music director for New York's listener-sponsored radio stationWBAI.
Corigliano first came to prominence in 1964 at the age of 26 when his Sonata for Violin and Piano (1963) was the only winner of the chamber-music competition of theSpoleto Festival in Italy.[7] In 1970, Corigliano teamed up withDavid Hess to createThe Naked Carmen. In a recent communication with David Hess, Hess acknowledged thatThe Naked Carmen was originally conceived by Corigliano and himself as a way to update the most popular opera of our time (Carmen). Mercury Records wanted the classical and popular divisions to work together and after a meeting with Joe Bott, Scott Mampe and Bob Reno, it was decided to proceed with the project. In Hess's own words, the project was "a collective decision".[8]
After he was awarded aGuggenheim Fellowship, Corigliano began teaching at the Manhattan School of Music and became a music faculty member at Lehman College. He credits his first two concerti for solo wind for both changing his art and his career. It was during the composition of hisOboe Concerto (1975) and especially hisClarinet Concerto (1977) that he first used an "architectural" method of composing.
In 1974, he wrote his first film score for the documentaryA Williamsburg Sampler. He later wrote the score forAltered States (1980) for which he was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Score.[9] The award-winning score forRevolution (1985), his third film, is one of Corigliano's most impressive creations, although it is less known, as it was never released in any recorded format;[10] it has existed in a bootleg form untilVarèse Sarabande officially released the score for a limited time in December 2009 through their CD club, and then as a regular release in 2010.[11] Corigliano later used portions of the score in his first symphony.
He composed for flutistJames Galway his third wind concerto, titledPied Piper Fantasy, which premiered with theLos Angeles Philharmonic (1982). In 1984, he became distinguished professor of music at Lehman College and left his position at Manhattan School of Music in 1986.
In 1987, Corigliano was the first composer to serve ascomposer-in-residence for theChicago Symphony Orchestra. During his residency, he composedhis first symphony, which was inspired by theAIDS epidemic and to honor the friends he lost. His first symphony won him theUniversity of LouisvilleGrawemeyer Award for Music Composition in 1991 and his firstGrammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition in 1992.[12]
Corigliano's first opera,The Ghosts of Versailles, was theMetropolitan Opera's first commission in nearly three decades, celebrating the company's 100th anniversary. The opera was a huge success at the premiere and received theInternational Classical Music Awards Composition of the Year award in 1992.[7] In 1991, Corigliano became a faculty member at the Juilliard School. In 1995, he was commissioned byLincoln Center to write astring quartet for theCleveland Quartet, which won him his second Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Corigliano's fourth film score was forFrançois Girard'sThe Red Violin (1997); he received his second nomination for and ultimately won the 1999 Oscar forBest Original Score. Portions of the score were used in his violin concerto (2003), written forJoshua Bell, who premiered it on September 19, 2003, with theBaltimore Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, he received thePulitzer Prize for hisSymphony No. 2 (2001).
In 2011, Corigliano's song cycleOne Sweet Morning premiered atAvery Fisher Hall by mezzo-sopranoStephanie Blythe and theNew York Philharmonic, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of theSeptember 11 attacks.[13][14] Other important commissions have beenChiaroscuro (1997) for two pianos tuned aquarter tone apart forThe Dranoff International Two Piano Foundation,Vocalise (1999) for the New York Philharmonic,Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems ofBob Dylan (2003) which earned him his third Grammy Award,Symphony No. 3Circus Maximus (2004) for theUniversity of Texas Wind Ensemble,STOMP (2011) written for the 2011Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia, andConjurer (2008) commissioned by an international consortium of six orchestras for percussionistEvelyn Glennie and winning him his fifth Grammy Award.[15]
Among Corigliano's students areDavid Sampson,Eric Whitacre,[16]Elliot Goldenthal,Edward Knight,Nico Muhly,[14] Roger Bergs,Michael Gilbertson,Gary Kulesha,Scott Glasgow,John Mackey,Michael Bacon,Avner Dorman,Mason Bates,Steven Bryant,Jefferson Friedman,Jamie Howarth,Dinuk Wijeratne andDavid Ludwig. In 1996, TheCorigliano Quartet was founded, taking his name in tribute.[17]
In 2022 eight female former Juilliard students alleged that Corigliano had taught very few female students during his tenure there, claiming that he had an "unofficial policy" of refusing to teach women.[18][19]
Most of Corigliano's work has been forsymphony orchestra. He employs a wide variety of styles, sometimes even within the same work, but aims to make his work accessible to a large audience. Many of his works have been performed and recorded by some of the most prominent orchestras, soloists, and chamber musicians in the world. He has writtensymphonies, as well as works forstring orchestra,wind band,concerti,chamber and solo pieces,opera, as well as for film.
Corigliano's most distinguished works include hisClarinet Concerto (1977),Symphony No. 1 (1988),The Ghosts of Versailles (1991),Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra (2000),Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan (2000), and his score for the filmThe Red Violin (1998). His clarinet concerto is the first by an American composer to have entered the standard repertoire sinceAaron Copland'sclarinet concerto.[20]
Corigliano has lived in New York City all his life. He currently divides his time between homes inManhattan andKent Cliffs (in theHudson Valley ofUpstate New York) with his husband, the composer-librettistMark Adamo.[23] The two were married inSanta Cruz, California, by the conductorMarin Alsop during the 2008Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.[24]
What I'm saying is that it was a collective decision.
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