Yehudi Wyner

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Yehudi Wyner (born June 1, 1929, in Calgary, Alberta) is an American composer, pianist, conductor and music educator.

Contents

Life and career

Wyner, who grew up in New York City, was raised in a musical family. His father, Lazar Weiner, was an eminent composer of Yiddish art songs. Wyner attended Juilliard, Yale and Harvard, and was a student of Paul Hindemith and Walter Piston. He has written music in a variety of genres, including compositions for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo voice and solo instruments, as well as theatrical music and settings of the Jewish liturgy. Among his best-known works are the Friday Evening Service (1963) and "Torah Service with Instruments" (1966) for cantor and chorus, and On This Most Voluptuous Night (1982) for soprano and chamber ensemble.

Wyner taught for 14 years at Yale, where he was the head of the composition faculty. He also taught at SUNY Purchase, Cornell, Brandeis and Harvard.

In 2006, Wyner won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his piano concerto Chiavi in Mano . [1] [2]

Personal life

Wyner was married to Nancy Braverman (Wyner) from 1951 to 1966, with whom he had three children – Isaiah, Adam, and Cassia. [3] He married soprano Susan Davenny-Wyner in 1967. [4]

He graduated from Yale University and Harvard University. [5]

Selected works

Degrees

Awards

Notable students

Partial discography

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Chiavi in Mano is a piano concerto in one movement by the composer Yehudi Wyner. The work was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was first performed in February 2005 by the pianist Robert D. Levin and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Robert Spano. The piece was later awarded Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2006.

References

  1. "Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  2. "Yehudi Wyner Wins Pulitzer Prize for Music – Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  3. "Reflections on the Pulitzer Prize" . Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  4. "Susan Davenny-Wyner (Soprano, Conductor)". www.bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  5. "Yehudi Wyner | Brandeis University". www.brandeis.edu.
  6. "Yehudi Wyner – Works – Music Sales Classical". www.schirmer.com. Retrieved May 2, 2018.