Chasalow, Eric (David)

Chasalow, Eric (David), American composer and teacher; b. Newark, May 25, 1955. He received training in music and biology at Bates Coll. (B.A., 1977), attended the New England Cons. of Music in Boston (1975–76), and studied composition with Davidovsky, George Edwards, and Beeson and flute with Sollberger at Columbia Univ. (M.A., 1979; D.M.A., 1985). He served as executive director of the Guild of Composers (1980–85) and of the Music Alliance (1988–90) in N.Y. In 1983 he held an NEA composer’s fellowship, in 1984, 1986, and 1998 Norlin/MacDowell fellowships, in 1986-87 the Charles Ives fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Guggenheim fellowship, and in 1989 and 1994 received prizes from the ISCM. In 1990 he joined the faculty of Brandeis Univ., where he became chairman of the music dept. in 1996.

Works

orch.: Leaping to Conclusions for Chamber Orch. (1987; Boston, April 10, 1988). chamber: Anti- Chambers for Flute (N.Y., April 19, 1979); Verses and Fragments for Horn, Percussion, and Electronic Sounds (N.Y., April 13, 1979); Reverses for Improvisers and Electronic Sounds (N.Y., June 2, 1980); Falling Forward for Flute (N.Y., Feb. 10, 1980); Two From Three for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1980); Returning to the Point for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1981; N.Y., Jan. 31, 1982); A Circumstance of Dancing for Flute and 11 Instruments (1982–84); Hanging in the Balance for Cello and Electronic Sounds (1983); Over the Edge for Flute and Electronic Sounds (1986); Fast Forward for Percussion and Electronic Sounds (1988); String Quartet (1989–90); Winding Up for Horn (1990; Swiss Radio, Lausanne, Dec. 1991); In the Works for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Percussion, and Piano (1993); Out of Joint for Trumpet and Electronic Sounds (1994); To the Edge and Back for Flute and Piano (1997); ’Sense Me for Electric Guitar and Computer-generated Sounds (1998); Yes, I Really Did, piano trio (1998); Suspicious Motives for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Computer-generated Sounds (Boston, Nov. 19, 1999). keyboard: P i a n o : Groundwork (1986); Little Word (1991); A Loose Translation (1995–96). vocal: Words for Chorus (1980); Triptych for Soprano and Piano (N.Y., June 17, 1984); The Furies for Soprano and Electronic Sounds, after Anne Sexton (1984; WBAI Radio, N.Y., March 21, 1985); The Shampoo for Soprano and Piano (1989); Pass it On for Soprano and Piano (1995); Five Simic Songs for Soprano and String Quartet (Waltham, Mass., Nov. 14, 1998). tape: This Way Out (1991); The Fury of Rainstorms (1992); And it flew upside-down (1994); Left to His Own Devices (1996); Portrait of the Artist (1997; Boston, Feb. 6, 1998).other: The Pagan Book of A. Rimbaud, sound design (1995); Seven Variations on Three Spaces, computer-generated sounds (1999).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire