Harris, Donald

Harris, Donald, American composer and music educator; b. St. Paul, Minn., April 7, 1931. He was a student of Paul Wilkinson in St. Paul, of Ross Lee Finney at the Univ. of Mich, at Ann Arbor (B.Mus., 1952; M.Mus., 1952), and of Max Deutsch in Paris. He also had studies with Boulanger in Paris, Blacher and Foss at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood (summers, 1954-55), and Jolivet at the Centre Français d’Humanisme Musical in Aix-en-Provence (1960). From 1968 to 1977 he held administrative posts at the New England Cons. of Music in Boston. In 1977 he became prof. of music at the Hartt School of Music at the Univ. of Hartford, where he was chairman of the composition and theory dept. (1977–80) and then dean of the school (1980–88). In 1988 he became dean of the Coll. of the Arts at Ohio State Univ. in Columbus, where he also was a prof. (from 1988) and acting director (1989–91) of the School of Music. After concluding his tenure as dean in 1997, he served as a prof. of composition and theory there. From 1994 to 1996 he also served as president of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans. With C. Hailey and J. Brand, he ed. The Berg-Schoenberg Correspondence (N.Y., 1987), which won the ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award in 1989. In 1956 he received a Fulbright scholarship. In 1962 he won the Prince Rainier III of Monaco Composition Award. He held a Gugggenheim fellowship in 1966. From 1973 he received annual ASCAP awards. In 1974 he received an NEA fellowship grant. He received an award from the American Academy and Inst. of Arts and Letters in 1991. As a composer, he follows the trends of the cosmopolitan avantgarde.

Works

dramatic:The Legend of John Henry, ballet (1954; rev. 1979); The Golden Deer, ballet (1955); Intervals, dance piece (1959); The Little Mermaid, opera (1985–95); Twelfth Night, incidental music to Shakespeare’s play (1989). ORCH.: Symphony in 2 Movements (1958–61); On Variations for Chamber Orch. (1976); Prelude to a Concert in Connecticut (1981); Mermaid Variations for Chamber Orch. (1992).band:A Fanfare for the Seventies, march (1978). CHAMBER: Fantasy for Violin and Piano (1957); String Quartet (1965); Ludus I for 10 Instruments (1966) and II for 5 Instruments (1973); 3 Fanfares for 4 Horns (1984); A Birthday Card for Günther [Schuller] for Violin (1985); Canzona and Carol for Double Brass Quintet and Timpani (1986). keyboard: piano: Sonata (1957); Balladen (1979). organ: Improvisation themes for Marie-Claire Alain (1980); Meditations (1984). VOCAL: Charmes for Soprano and Orch. (1971–80); For the Night to Wear for Mezzo-soprano and Chamber Ensemble (1978); Of Hartford in a Purple Light (1979); Les Mains (1983); Pierrot Lieder for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble (1988).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire