Travis, Roy (Elihu)
Travis, Roy (Elihu)
Travis, Roy (Elihu), American composer and teacher; b. N.Y, June 24, 1922. He studied with William J. Mitchell and Luening at Columbia Univ. (B.A., 1947; M.A., 1951); also studied privately with Salzer (1947-50), with Wagenaar at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y (B.S., 1949; M.S., 1950), and with Milhaud on a Fulbright scholarship in Paris (1951-52). He taught at Columbia Univ. (1952-53), the Mannes Coll. of Music (1952-57), and at the Univ. of Calif, at Los Angeles (from 1957), where he was a prof, (from 1968). In 1972-73 he held a Guggenheim fellowship.
Works
dramatic: Opera: The Passion of Oedipus (1965; Los Angeles, Nov. 8, 1968); The Black Bacchants (1982). ORCH.: Symphonic Allegro (1951); Collage (1967-68); Piano Concerto (1969). CHAMBER: String Quartet (1958); Duo concertante for Violin and Piano (1967); Barma, septet for Flute or Piccolo, Piano, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Double Bass, and Percussion (1968); Switched-on Ashanti for Flute or Piccolo and Tape (1973); piano pieces, including 2 sonatas (1954; African, 1966). VOCAL: Songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire