Jacob Avshalomov
Encyclopedia
Jacob Avshalomov is a Jewish American
composer
and conductor
.
, China. His father was Aaron Avshalomov
, the Siberian-born composer known for "oriental musical materials cast in western forms and media"; his mother was from San Francisco. Jacob received musical instruction from his father starting at a young age. At eight years old Avshalomov visited Portland from China with his parents and were guests of Jacques Gershkovitch
for several months in 1927. Aaron Avshalomov had become friends with Gershkovitch in the Orient (Jacob was three years old when the two met). However, because they did not hold permanent visas the family returned to China.
Jacob graduated from British and American schools before age fifteen, then worked as a factory supervisor in Tientsin, Shanghai
and Beijing
over a span of four years. Avshalomov was also active in sports and won the diving
championship of North China. In 1937, Avshalomov assisted his father in Shanghai with ballet production and working on scores
. He then enlisted with a British volunteer corps following Japan's invasion of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War
, and eventually returned to the United States with his mother in December 1937. Avshalomov spent a year in Los Angeles studying with Ernst Toch
, followed by two years in Portland, Oregon to attend Reed College
(1939–1941). During this time he studied with Gershkovitch and participated in the Portland Junior Symphony. He then spent two years at the Eastman School of Music
to study composition and orchestration with Bernard Rogers
. During World War II
he lived in London, where he conducted a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach
's St John Passion.
, where he taught from 1946 to 1954. Here he conducted American premier performances of Anton Bruckner
's Mass No. 1
and Michael Tippett
's A Child of Our Time
. He served on the National Humanities Council from 1968 to 1974 and the Music Planning Section of the National Arts Endowment from 1977 to 1979.
) for its thirtieth season—one was Avshalomov. Avshalomov was appointed the orchestra's second conductor in 1954. During his forty-year tenure Avshalomov encouraged international tours and produced several recordings, some of which included pieces commissioned by the orchestra, making the Portland Junior Symphony the first known recording orchestra in the Pacific Northwest
. He lead the ensemble on their first international tour in 1970. The orchestra became known as the Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) in 1978. The year 1984 marked the orchestra's sixtieth anniversary as well as Avshalomov's thirtieth year as conductor. Avshalomov retired in 1995 after an estimated 640 concerts and 10,000 auditions.
(CRI) in the late 1960s, along with two of his father's works. Other pieces by Jacob recorded by CRI are "Phases of the Great Land" (CRI 194), "Inscriptions at the City of Brass" (CRI 117), "The Taking of T'ung Kuan" (CRI 117), and "Prophesy" (CRI 191). Avshalomov also wrote "The Oregon", a symphony commemorating the centennial anniversary of the U.S. state
of Oregon
, in 1959. One main characteristic of Avshalomov's compositions are the radical change of time-signatures from measure to measure (bar to bar). Other commissioned works include "The Thirteen Clocks", "Glorious th'Assembled Fires", and "Symphony of Songs".
in 1951. In 1953 he was recognized by the New York Music Critics Circle for his choral work Tom o' Bedlam. Other awards include a Bloch
Award, Naumburg Recording Award, Ditson Conductor's Award
in 1965, Governor's Arts Award, and American Symphony Orchestra League
Award. In 1994 Avshalomov was named a Portland First Citizen, an honor established by the Portland Realty Board (now the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors) in 1928 to recognize "civic achievements and business leadership within the community". In 2011 Avshalomov was one of three honorees to be recognized by the Portland Center for the Performing Arts
Foundation for outstanding contributions to Portland's art community. Awards recipients had a granite star placed on Main Street by Antoinette Hatfield Hall
and were presented with a bronze folly bollard.
American Jews
American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens of the Jewish faith or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
.
Early life and education
Jacob Avshalomov was born on March 28, 1919 in TsingtaoQingdao
' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
, China. His father was Aaron Avshalomov
Aaron Avshalomov
Aaron Avshalomov was a Russian-born Jewish composer.Born into a Mountain Jewish family, he was sent for medical studies to Zürich. After the October Revolution, in 1917, which made further studies in Europe impossible, his family sent him to the United States...
, the Siberian-born composer known for "oriental musical materials cast in western forms and media"; his mother was from San Francisco. Jacob received musical instruction from his father starting at a young age. At eight years old Avshalomov visited Portland from China with his parents and were guests of Jacques Gershkovitch
Jacques Gershkovitch
Jacques Gershkovitch was a Russian conductor and musician who became the first music director of the Portland Junior Symphony...
for several months in 1927. Aaron Avshalomov had become friends with Gershkovitch in the Orient (Jacob was three years old when the two met). However, because they did not hold permanent visas the family returned to China.
Jacob graduated from British and American schools before age fifteen, then worked as a factory supervisor in Tientsin, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
over a span of four years. Avshalomov was also active in sports and won the diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
championship of North China. In 1937, Avshalomov assisted his father in Shanghai with ballet production and working on scores
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
. He then enlisted with a British volunteer corps following Japan's invasion of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, and eventually returned to the United States with his mother in December 1937. Avshalomov spent a year in Los Angeles studying with Ernst Toch
Ernst Toch
Ernst Toch was a composer of classical music and film scores.- Biography :Toch, born in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, into the family of a humble Jewish leather dealer when the city was at its 19th-century cultural zenith, sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music...
, followed by two years in Portland, Oregon to attend Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
(1939–1941). During this time he studied with Gershkovitch and participated in the Portland Junior Symphony. He then spent two years at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
to study composition and orchestration with Bernard Rogers
Bernard Rogers
Bernard Rogers was an American composer.Rogers was born in New York City. He studied with Arthur Farwell, Ernest Bloch, Percy Goetschius, and Nadia Boulanger. He taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, The Hartt School, and the Eastman School of Music...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he lived in London, where he conducted a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's St John Passion.
Career
Following the war, Avshalomov received the Ditson Fellowship and joined faculty of the music department at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where he taught from 1946 to 1954. Here he conducted American premier performances of Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
's Mass No. 1
Mass No. 1 (Bruckner)
Mass No. 1 in D minor, WAB 26 by Anton Bruckner, is a setting of the Mass ordinary for soloists, mixed choir, orchestra and organ.Bruckner composed it in 1864, and revised it in 1876 and 1881/82...
and Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
's A Child of Our Time
A Child of Our Time
A Child of Our Time is an oratorio written by Michael Tippett between 1939 and 1941."After more than ten years of thoughtful planning, Michael Tippett summed up his musical, political, spiritual and philosophical beliefs in his first oratorio, A Child of Our Time...
. He served on the National Humanities Council from 1968 to 1974 and the Music Planning Section of the National Arts Endowment from 1977 to 1979.
Portland Youth Philharmonic
Following Gershkovitch's death in 1953, guest conductors lead the Portland Junior Symphony (now known as the Portland Youth PhilharmonicPortland Youth Philharmonic
The Portland Youth Philharmonic is the oldest youth orchestra in the United States, established in 1924 as the Portland Junior Symphony . Now based in Portland, Oregon, the orchestra's origin dates back to 1910 when music teacher Mary V. Dodge began playing music for local children in Burns...
) for its thirtieth season—one was Avshalomov. Avshalomov was appointed the orchestra's second conductor in 1954. During his forty-year tenure Avshalomov encouraged international tours and produced several recordings, some of which included pieces commissioned by the orchestra, making the Portland Junior Symphony the first known recording orchestra in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. He lead the ensemble on their first international tour in 1970. The orchestra became known as the Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) in 1978. The year 1984 marked the orchestra's sixtieth anniversary as well as Avshalomov's thirtieth year as conductor. Avshalomov retired in 1995 after an estimated 640 concerts and 10,000 auditions.
Compositions
Jacob has composed several symphonic pieces. The cantata "How Long Oh Lord" was recorded by Composers Recordings, Inc.Composers Recordings, Inc.
Composers Recordings, Inc. was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City....
(CRI) in the late 1960s, along with two of his father's works. Other pieces by Jacob recorded by CRI are "Phases of the Great Land" (CRI 194), "Inscriptions at the City of Brass" (CRI 117), "The Taking of T'ung Kuan" (CRI 117), and "Prophesy" (CRI 191). Avshalomov also wrote "The Oregon", a symphony commemorating the centennial anniversary of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, in 1959. One main characteristic of Avshalomov's compositions are the radical change of time-signatures from measure to measure (bar to bar). Other commissioned works include "The Thirteen Clocks", "Glorious th'Assembled Fires", and "Symphony of Songs".
Recognitions
Avshalomov received the Ditson Fellowship in Composition following World War II and a Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1951. In 1953 he was recognized by the New York Music Critics Circle for his choral work Tom o' Bedlam. Other awards include a Bloch
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer.-Life:Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe...
Award, Naumburg Recording Award, Ditson Conductor's Award
Ditson Conductor's Award
The Ditson Conductor's Award, established in 1945, is the oldest award honoring conductors for their commitment to the performance of American music. The US$5,000 purse endowed by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University was increased in 1999 from US$1,000.Upon the death of Alice M. Ditson,...
in 1965, Governor's Arts Award, and American Symphony Orchestra League
League of American Orchestras
The League of American Orchestras, known until Fall 2007 as the American Symphony Orchestra League , is an association of U.S. and Canadian orchestras. Over 950 orchestras are members, including youth, community, and professional orchestras....
Award. In 1994 Avshalomov was named a Portland First Citizen, an honor established by the Portland Realty Board (now the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors) in 1928 to recognize "civic achievements and business leadership within the community". In 2011 Avshalomov was one of three honorees to be recognized by the Portland Center for the Performing Arts
Portland Center for the Performing Arts
The Portland Center for the Performing Arts is an organization within Metro that runs venues for live theatre, concerts, cinema, small conferences, and similar events in Portland, Oregon, United States....
Foundation for outstanding contributions to Portland's art community. Awards recipients had a granite star placed on Main Street by Antoinette Hatfield Hall
Antoinette Hatfield Hall
Antoinette Hatfield Hall, formerly known as the New Theatre Building, is a complex located in Portland, Oregon. It contains the Dolores Winningstad Theatre, the Newmark Theatre, and Brunish Hall. Hatfield Hall itself is sometimes erroneously referred to as the Portland Center for the Performing...
and were presented with a bronze folly bollard.
Recordings
- Avshalomov: Fabled Cities (1998, Albany), contains re-issues of "City Upon a Hill" (1965), "Inscriptions at the City of Brass" (1957), Symphony: The Oregon and "Up at Timberline" (1987)
See also
- List of Eastman School of Music people
- List of Jewish American composers
- List of Reed College people
- Music education for young childrenMusic education for young childrenMusic education for young children is an educational program introducing children in a playful manner to singing, speech, music, motion and organology. It is a subarea of music education.- Forms and activities :...
- Music education in the United StatesMusic education in the United StatesMusic education in the United States can be traced through historical documentation to the colonial era. Among the Native Americans prior to European and African settlement, music education was entirely oral.- History :...
External links
- Jacob Avshalomov at the American Composers AllianceAmerican Composers AllianceThe American Composers Alliance is an American membership organization dedicated to the publishing and promoting of American contemporary classical music. Founded in 1937 by Aaron Copland, Milton Adolphus and others, it is the oldest national organization of its kind, and represents over 200...
- Jacob Avshalomov scores, 1928–2001, New York Public LibraryNew York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...