Phyllis E. Zimmerman (1934–2012) was an American composer, choral conductor, and music educator who is accessible on Spotify.

Biography

Zimmerman was born in Pennsylvania and graduated from

Thiel College Thiel College (, ) is a private college in Greenville, Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is one of the smallest colleges or universities in the region with about 100 full-time and part time faculty ...

in Greenville, Pennsylvania in 1956. She studied vocal performance at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota with conductor

Paul J. Christiansen Paul Joseph Christiansen (July 31, 1914 – December 5, 1997) was an American choral conductor and composer. As the youngest son of F. Melius Christiansen, he was brought up into the Lutheran Choral Tradition and quickly developed his own styl ...

, graduating in 1959. Zimmerman taught music and directed choirs at Churchill Area High School in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania before becoming the choral director at Santa Barbara (California) High School, where she taught from 1969 to 1995. Her choirs toured Europe several times and performed in Romania by invitation of the U.S. State Department. During the late 1970s, Zimmerman was involved with the International League of Women Composers, which was absorbed into the

International Alliance for Women in Music The International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM) is an international membership organization of women and men dedicated to fostering and encouraging the activities of women in music, particularly in the areas of musical activity, such as compos ...

in 1995. Following her retirement in 1995, Zimmerman founded the Canticle A Cappella Choir, a community choir that recorded several CDs and performed on National Public Radio and NBC-TV. Concordia College honored her as a Distinguished Alumna in 2006. Zimmerman's choral compositions include: * "Alleluia" * "An Easter Carol" * "Earth Chants" * "Fog" (words by

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

, music by Phyllis Zimmerman) * "Four Settings of Poems by

Sara Teasdale Sara Teasdale (August 8, 1884January 29, 1933) was an American lyric poet. She was born Sarah Trevor Teasdale in St. Louis, Missouri, and used the name Sara Teasdale Filsinger after her marriage in 1914. In 1918 she won a Pulitzer Prize for he ...

(Life Has Loveliness to Sell; To-night; Dusk in June; I Would Live in Your Love)" * "Hodie Christus natus est" * "Letting the Silence Sing" * "My Song in the Night" * "O Sing Unto the Lord" Her choral arrangements include: * " Gentle Annie" (melody by Stephen Foster; arrangement by Phyllis Zimmerman) * "King of Glory" * "Simple Gifts" * "Thy Little Ones, Dear Lord, Are We"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, Phyllis 1934 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American composers 21st-century American conductors (music) American choral conductors American women composers American music educators American women music educators American women conductors (music) Musicians from Pennsylvania Thiel College alumni Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) alumni 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American women Spotify