Avshalomov, Jacob

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AVSHALOMOV, JACOB

AVSHALOMOV, JACOB (1919– ), U.S. composer; son of the Russian composer Aaron *Avshalomov. Jacob Avshalomov was born in China and immigrated to the U.S. in 1937. He studied there with Ernst Toch in Los Angeles and with Aaron *Copland at Tanglewood (1947). At Columbia University, where he taught from 1946 to 1954, he conducted the university chorus and orchestra and performed with them in the American premieres of Bruckner's Mass in d minor, Tippet's A Child of our Time, and Handel's The Triumph of Time and Truth. In 1968, President Johnson appointed him to the National Council of the Humanities. His compositions are marked by Asian sonorities absorbed at an early age in China and his predilection for Renaissance counterpoint. His many vocal works include Inscriptions at the City of Brass (1964) and more than 30 songs. His instrumental output comprises a "Sinfonietta" (1946); a symphony, The Oregon (1962); and Open Sesame (1984).

bibliography:

Grove online.

[Amnon Shiloah (2nd ed.)]