Marilyn Jane Ziffrin (August 7, 1926 - March 16, 2018) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

Biography

Marilyn Ziffrin was born in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline, Illinois, East M ...

, to parents Betty S. and Harry B. Ziffrin, (both children of Russian immigrants who emigrated from Belogorodka, Ukraine. Harry, who grew up in the then Tri Cities, of Rock Island & Moline, IL, and Davenport, Iowa, and Betty, who grew up in St. Louis, were first cousins; their fathers were brothers, and they both were first cousins of

Lester Ziffren Lester Ziffren (April 30, 1906 – November 12, 2007) was an American reporter and Hollywood screenwriter. Born in Rock Island, Illinois, Ziffren became a reporter for United Press. He was among the first to report on the Spanish Civil War ...

, the famous journalist, and Paul Ziffren, the Democratic Party leader from Los Angeles. Ziffrin, a graduate of Moline, IL public schools, where her father owned a liquor distributorship, began studying piano at age four with Louise Cervin who had studied with

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky, pl, Teodor Leszetycki; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915 was an Austrian-Polish pianist, professor, and composer born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land of ...

. Ziffrin also studied clarinet and saxophone and soon began composing with a piano piece called "Ode to a Lost Pencil." Ziffrin graduated from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

in 1948, and received a Master of Arts degree from

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 ...

in 1949. From 1967 to 1982 she worked as an associate professor at

New England College New England College (NEC) is a private liberal arts college in Henniker, New Hampshire. As of Fall 2020 New England College's enrollment was 4,327 students (1,776 undergraduate and 2,551 graduate). The college is regionally accredited by the Ne ...

, and she taught private composition lessons at St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

. Ziffrin was a member of the National Association of Composers and Conductors. She received awards, including

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Awards and Honorable Mention in the Music Teachers National Association Shepherd Competition in 1998. She was named New Hampshire Music Teachers Association Composer of the year in 1997, and has received six residencies at the MacDowell Colony. She was also the author of ''Carl Ruggles: Composer, Painter, and Storyteller'' (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).

Selected works

Ziffrin had written compositions for solo instruments, chamber music, choral works, works for orchestra and band. * ''Cantata for Freedom'' * ''For Love of Cynthia'' * ''Two Songs'' for bass-baritone * Piano Sonata * ''Fantasy'' for 2 pianos * ''New England Epitaphs'' * Music for handbells and organ * ''Two Holiday Songs'' * ''Yankee Hooray'' * Concerto for viola and woodwind quintet (1977–1978) * ''Haiku'', Song Cycle for soprano, viola and harpsichord (or piano) (1971); words by Kathryn Martin * ''Sonata for Organ and Cello'' (1973); Commissioned by Colby-Sawyer College for Harriette Slack RichardsonOrgan and Harpsichord Music by Women Composers * ''Tributum'' for clarinet, viola and double bass (1992)

References

External links

Interview with Marilyn J. Ziffrin
June 30, 1994 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziffrin, Marilyn 1926 births 2018 deaths 20th-century classical composers American music educators American women music educators American women classical composers American classical composers American people of Russian descent University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni New England College alumni MacDowell Colony fellows 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century women composers 21st-century American women People from Moline, Illinois