Conrad Cummings (born February 10, 1948) is an American composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

. His compositions include works for orchestra, as well as operatic and chamber works. Many of his works are composed in a

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

style reminiscent of that of

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

. Cummings was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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. He studied at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

, and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, from which he received a doctorate. His teachers include Bülent Arel,

Mario Davidovsky Mario Davidovsky (March 4, 1934 – August 23, 2019) was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of compositions ca ...

, and

Jacob Druckman Jacob Raphael Druckman (June 26, 1928 – May 24, 1996) was an American composer born in Philadelphia. Life A graduate of the Juilliard School in 1956, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1 ...

. He later conducted post-doctoral research at

IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of avant garde and electro-acoustical art music. It is ...

in Paris under

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

. He is a former professor at the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...

. Cummings lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he serves on the faculty of

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

, teaching composition in the Evening Division. Four recordings of his music have been released on CRI's Emergency Music label. ''The Golden Gate'', an opera in two acts with music by Conrad Cummings and libretto from the novel-in-verse by

Vikram Seth Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is an Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novels and poetry books. He has won several awards such as Padma Shri, Sahitya Academy Award, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crosswor ...

, adapted by the composer, is currently (2010) in development by LivelyWorks and American Opera Projects and receives a staged workshop production at the Rose Studio at Lincoln Center in New York City in January 2010.

Degrees and Studies

B.A., Yale U.; M.A., SUNY-Stony Brook; D.M.A., Columbia U. Composition studies with Bulent Arel, Mario Davidovsky, and Jacob Druckman. Postdoctoral research at IRCAM (Paris). Accomplishments Vice president of Hyperspace Cowgirls, a children's interactive media company, 1995-2002. Awards and fellowships: N.E.A., Opera America, Rockefeller Foundation, MacDowell Colony, and Djerassi Foundation. Works performed by Brooklyn Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Columbus and Cleveland Chamber Orchestras, Canadian Brass. Recordings on CRI Emergency Music label. Operas: Eros and Psyche (libretto by the composer), Oberlin Opera Theater; Photo-Op (libretto by James Siena), La MaMa ETC, N.Y.C., and UrbanArias, Washington D.C.; Tonkin (libretto by the composer with Tom Bird and Robert T. Jones), Opera Delaware; Positions 1956 (libretto by Michael Korie), PS 122 and Le Poisson Rouge, N.Y.C., Urban Arias, Washington D.C.; The Golden Gate (libretto from the novel in verse by Vikram Seth, adapted by the composer), staged workshop, Rose Studio at Lincoln Center, Opera America New Works Forum Showcase, November 2012, named one of the best operas of the 21st century by Opera News. Associate professor and director of Oberlin Conservatory's music and media program, 1980-1992. Conrad Cummings has been mentioned in multiple different NY times articles reviewing his music that he composed. Four recordings of his music have been released on CRI's Emergency Music label.

External links

*
information on The Golden Gate opera
*http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/conrad-cummings-in-

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-with-my-peers/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, Conrad 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers 1948 births Living people American LGBT musicians LGBT classical composers Composers from San Francisco Yale University alumni Stony Brook University alumni Columbia University alumni Oberlin College faculty Juilliard School faculty LGBT people from California Educators from California Pupils of Jacob Druckman Pupils of Mario Davidovsky 21st-century American composers American male classical composers American classical composers American contemporary classical composers 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from California 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century LGBT people