Duffy, John

Duffy, John, noted American music administrator and composer; b. N.Y, June 23, 1926. He received training in composition from Aaron Copland, Henry Cowell, Dallapiccola, Solomon Rosowsky, and Herbert Zipper. From 1953 to 1963 he was active as composer and music director of Shakespeare Under the Stars and the Ohio Shakespeare Festival, and from 1963 to 1974 of the American Shakespeare Festival, the Guthrie Theater, the Long Wharf Theater, and the Vivian Beaumont Theater in N.Y. In 1974 Duffy founded and became president of the innovative Meet the Composers organization, which he led until 1995. Under his leadership, it became a vital force in American music via the creation, performance, and recording of American music. For his own compositions, Duffy received Emmy Awards in 1984 and 1986. In 1987 he received the N.Y. State Governor’s Art Award and in 1991 the N.YC. Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture. In addition to his many scores for the theater, film, and television, he has composed a number of works for the concert hall and opera house. Among the latter are Heritage, suite for Narrator and Orch. (1986; Washington, D.C., May 14,

1988; based on his score for the PBS-TV series Heritage: Civilization and the Jews), Sym. No. 1, Utah (N.Y., Nov. 29, 1989), Freedom Overture (Leipzig, Nov. 8, 1990), A Time for Remembrance, peace cantata for Soprano, Speaker, and Orch., in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor (Honolulu, Dec. 7,1991; rev. 1993), Black Water, opera after Joyce Carol Gates (Philadelphia, May 1, 1995), Unity for Chorus and Orch. (Toledo, April 1997), and Testament for Chorus and Band (Skowhegan, Maine, Jan. 1998).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire