Becker, Frank

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Becker, Frank

Becker, Frank, American composer; b. Paterson, N.J., March 29, 1944. He studied with Joseph Wood at the Oberlin (Ohio) Coll. Cons. of Music, and composition with Robert Palmer and jazz improvisation with Elston Husk. A Ford Foundation grant took him for two years to Wichita, Kans., where his works were widely performed; he subsequently went to Japan, becoming famous in avant-garde circles as a composer, performer (on synthesizer), and producer. Since his return to the U.S. in 1981, he has written many film and television scores. Among his concert works are Stonehenge for Flute and Tape (a mixture of new age, minimalist, and pseudo-Japanese styles) and Philiapaideia for Orch. (1973), which won the Prix Francis Salabert in 1975.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire