David Russell Burge (March 25, 1930 – April 1, 2013) was an American pianist, conductor and composer.
[ As a performer, he was noted for championing contemporary pieces. The ''New York Times'' called him "one of America's important pianists," and his concerts were described as "an overwhelming experience" (''Washington Post'') presenting "masterful artistry" (''Baltimore Sun'').]
Biography
Burge was born in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
. He studied at Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
for his bachelor's and master's degrees. Later he attained the Doctor of Musical Arts degree and an artist's diploma from 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 ...
, and he studied at the Cherubini Conservatory, Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
as a Fulbright
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
scholar.
While on the faculty at the University of Colorado in Boulder during the 1960s and 1970s, Burge founded and directed the Colorado Festival of Contemporary Music, and he was also Musical Director and Conductor of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra
The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1958, is a professional symphony orchestra based in Boulder, Colorado. It is led by Music Director Michael Butterman. The Boulder Philharmonic’s season at Macky Auditorium on the University of Colo ...
.
During that period, George Crumb
George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...
collaborated with Burge while writing ''Makrokosmos
''Makrokosmos'' is a series of four volumes of pieces for piano by American composer George Crumb. The name alludes to '' Mikrokosmos'', a set of piano pieces by Béla Bartók, one of Crumb's favorite 20th-century composers. The first volume of t ...
'', a series of four volumes of pieces for piano. ''Makrokosmos, Volume I'' was composed in 1972 for Burge, who had previously commissioned and premiered Crumb's Five Pieces for Piano (1962). The Nonesuch recording of ''Makrokosmos, Vol. I'' was nominated for a Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
. Burge also worked with composers such as Ernst Krenek
Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...
, Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...
, and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...
, and singers including Cathy Berberian
Catherine Anahid Berberian (July 4, 1925 – March 6, 1983) was an American mezzo-soprano and composer based in Italy. She worked closely with many contemporary avant-garde music composers, including Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henr ...
and Bethany Beardslee
Bethany Beardslee (born December 25, 1925) is an American soprano particularly noted for her collaborations with major 20th-century composers, such as Igor Stravinsky, Milton Babbitt, Pierre Boulez, George Perle, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and her ...
.[Contemporary Music Review abstract](_blank)
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After leaving the University of Colorado, he chaired the Piano Department at the Eastman School of Music for many years. Over his career, he gave more than 1,000 concerts in the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, composed more than 100 works, authored the book ''Twentieth-Century Piano Music'' (Shirmer Books, 1990), wrote prize-winning columns for ''Keyboard Magazine'', ''Clavier'' and ''The Piano Quarterly.''
In 1993, Burge moved to San Diego with his wife, Liliane Choney, and served as composer-in-residence for the San Diego Ballet. His ballet scores became increasingly well known outside the San Diego area, with over thirty performances in the United States and abroad.
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In early 2002, Burge and Crumb were appointed to a joint residency at Arizona State University
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
. He accepted visiting professorships not only at many universities and conservatories in the United States but also in Denmark, Turkey, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and Korea.
Burge died from a heart attack on April 1, 2013 in Warwick, Rhode Island
Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, sout ...
.[David Burge, Pianist, Is Dead at 83]
The New York Times, April 14, 2013
Bibliography
*''Twentieth Century Piano Music'' (1994); ; Scarecrow Press
*''Timeless Relevance: The Keyboard Magazine Columns, 1975-1989'' (ed. Evon Burge, 2018); ; Chelsea Books
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burge, David
American male conductors (music)
American classical pianists
American male classical pianists
Arizona State University faculty
Evanston Township High School alumni
1930 births
2013 deaths
Contemporary classical music performers
20th-century classical pianists
21st-century classical pianists
20th-century American pianists
21st-century American pianists
20th-century American conductors (music)
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians