W. Claude Baker Jr. (born April 12, 1948

Lenoir Lenoir may refer to: Locations: * Lenoir, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir City, Tennessee In Universities: * Lenoir-Rhyne University * Lenoir Dining Hall, a dining hall at the University of N ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

) 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 ...

Biography

Claude Baker attained a B.M. degree, magna cum laude, from

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

in 1970. He subsequently studied composition at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

with Samuel Adler and Warren Benson, and holds M.M. (1973) and D.M.A. (1975) degrees from that institution. He is currently Class of 1956 Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Composition in the

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, Bloomington, where he is also the recipient of the university-wide Tracy M. Sonneborn Award for accomplishments in the areas of teaching and research. Before his appointment at Indiana, he served on the faculties of the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

, and was a Visiting Professor at the Eastman School of Music. In the eight-year period from 1991 to 1999, he held the position of Composer-in-Residence of the

St. Louis Symphony The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is the second-oldest professional symphony or ...

, one of the longest such residencies with any major orchestra in the country. During this time, he initiated numerous community-based projects, the most notable of which was the establishment of composition programs at multiple grade levels in the St. Louis Public Schools. In recognition of his contributions to the cultural life of the city, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1999. His music has been championed by such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Mario Venzago, Robert Spano, Gerhardt Zimmermann, Gilbert Varga, Juanjo Mena, and Giancarlo Guerrero, and by soloists including Marc-André Hamelin, Eugene Rousseau, Claire Huangci, Tzimon Barto, Jon Garrison, and Ana Higueras. Among the many orchestras in addition to St. Louis that have commissioned and/or performed his music are those of San Francisco, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Nashville, as well as the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Mem ...

Orquesta Nacional de España The Orquesta Nacional de España (Spanish National Orchestra) is a symphonic orchestra that is based in Madrid, Spain. History Although the orchestra originated as of 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, it was legally founded in 1940, by the mergin ...

, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Staatskapelle Halle, Orchestre National de Lyon, and Das Berner Symphonieorchester. Performances of his chamber works have been presented by the

Cleveland Chamber Symphony The Cleveland Chamber Symphony is an American chamber orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music, and has presented over 200 performance premieres. History The Cleveland Chamber Sympho ...

, Voices of Change,

American Modern Ensemble The American Modern Ensemble is a contemporary classical music ensemble based in the United States in New York City with the goal of premiering, performing and recording and commissioning the widest possible repertoire written by American composers ...

, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Empyrean Ensemble, Locrian Chamber Players, Ensemble Connect, Momenta String Quartet, and the Pacifica String Quartet (with pianist Ursula ). His music is published by Keiser Southern and Carl Fischer, and is recorded on the Naxos, Innova, ACA, Jeanné, IUMusic, TNC, Gasparo, and Louisville First Edition labels.

Accolades

The professional honors he has received as a composer include an Academy Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; two Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards; a "Manuel de Falla" Prize from the Government of Spain; the Pogorzelski-Yankee Prize from the American Guild of Organists; the Eastman-Leonard and George Eastman Prizes; awards from ASCAP, BMI, and the League of Composers/ISCM; commissions from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, and Meet the Composer (now, New Music USA); a Paul Fromm Residency at the American Academy in Rome; a Copland House Residency Award; and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, Bogliasco Foundation, and the state arts councils of Indiana, Kentucky, and New York. In 2021, he was named as the recipient of the A. I. duPont Composer’s Award from the Delaware Symphony Orchestra for his “significant contribution to the field of contemporary classical music.”

References

External links

Claude Baker Home PageClaude Baker Page, Keiser SouthernClaude Baker - In honor of IU Retiring Faculty 2020

Listening

Claude Baker: Sample Recordings, IU Composition Department
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Claude American male classical composers American classical composers 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers 1948 births Indiana University faculty People from Lenoir, North Carolina Pupils of Samuel Adler (composer) Pupils of Warren Benson University of Georgia faculty University of Louisville faculty East Carolina University alumni Living people 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians