Richard Festinger (born 1 March 1948) is 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 ...

of contemporary classical music,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

Biography

Festinger was born in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. He received his B.A. in music, magna cum laude, from San Francisco State University, and his Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California, Berkeley. He was the founding director of Earplay, a new chamber music ensemble based in the Bay Area. He has been a resident artist at the MacDowell Colony, Camargo Foundation,

Cité internationale des arts The Cité internationale des arts is an artist-in-residence building complex which accommodates artists of all specialities and nationalities in Paris. It comprises two sites, one located in the Marais and the other in Montmartre. Approximately ...

in Paris, Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

Bellagio Study Center, the Ligurian Study Center in

Bogliasco Bogliasco ( lij, Boggiasco) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about southeast of Genoa. Together with the ''comuni'' of Camogli, Recco, Pieve Ligure and Sori, it is part of t ...

, Italy, Fundación Valparaíso, Mojácar, Almeria, Spain, Ucross Foundation Centre International d’Accueil et d’Échanges des Récollets, the

Aaron Copland House The Aaron Copland House, also known as Rock Hill or Copland House, is the former home of composer Aaron Copland for the last 30 years of his life, and now also a creative center for American music. Located on Washington Street in Cortlandt Manor ...

, the Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus, and the Central Conservatory of Music in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He was commissioned by the Fromm Foundation in 2003 to compose his work ''Hidden Spring'' for the Cygnus Ensemble. Also in 2003 Works and Process at the Guggenheim commissioned and premiered his settings of poet/author

Denis Johnson Denis Hale Johnson (July 1, 1949 – May 24, 2017) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, '' Jesus' Son'' (1992). His most successful novel, ''Tree of Smoke'' (2007) ...

, ''The Coming of Age'' with Amy Burton, soprano and The Group for Contemporary Music conducted by Bradley Lubman. In 2009 pianist Marilyn Nonken toured with Festinger's large scale piano solo, ''Le Pianiste''. Early in his career Festinger played guitar and toured with folk singer

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

including a performance at

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

. Shortly afterwards, intent on pursuing a performing career in jazz, he attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where he studied composition with

Herb Pomeroy Irving Herbert Pomeroy III (April 15, 1930 – August 11, 2007) was an American jazz trumpeter, teacher, and the founder of the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble. Early life Pomeroy was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States. He began playing ...

and improvisation with

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be he ...

. Returning to

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 ...

in 1972 he performed extensively for several years as a jazz guitarist while pursuing a growing interest in classical music and composition. Festinger earned his B.A. from San Francisco State and later his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley where he worked with

Andrew Imbrie Andrew Welsh Imbrie (April 6, 1921 – December 5, 2007) was an American contemporary classical music composer and pianist. Career Imbrie was born in New York City and began his musical training as a pianist when he was 4. In 1937, he went to Par ...

. Festinger is Professor of Theory and Composition at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

, where he is also the artistic director of the Morrison Artists Chamber Music Series.

Compositions

* ''Incognito'' (2014) text:

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

, soprano and baritone * ''Winds of May'' (2014) text:

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

, soprano and two classical guitars * ''Love Wanders There'' (2013) text: James Joyce, soprano and two classical guitars * ''Kleinen Doch Emsigen'' (2013) flute, clarinet, viola, cello *''Portrait''(2012) unaccompanied violin * ''Violacanta'' (2012) unaccompanied viola * ''Upon The Viol'' (2012) unaccompanied cello * ''To a Pilgrim'' (2011) bass clarinet and cello * ''Spring Ice'' (2010) soprano and violin, on 12th-century Japanese poems * ''Enchainement'' (2009) for solo viola * ''Le Pianiste'' (2009) solo piano three pieces after paintings of

Roberto Matta Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren (; November 11, 1911 – November 23, 2002), better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art. Bio ...

* ''Equinox'' (2009) for clarinet and small orchestra * ''Legerdemain'' (2008) solo percussion, hand drums * ''Insect Voices'' (2008) soprano and four players * ''The Locust Tree'' (2007) chorus-SATB (text

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

) * ''Concerto for Piano and Nine Instruments'' (2007) * ''Between Thought and Thing'' (2006) for eight players * ''The Way Things Go'' (2006) flute, piano * ''From The Beginning'' (2005) String Quartet No. 2 * ''A Machine for Interpreting Dreams’’ (2005) for four players * ''Hidden Spring'' (2004) for six players * ''Laws of Motion'' (2004) for five players * ''Diary of a Journey'' (2003) for six players * ''The Coming of Age'' (2003) text:

soprano and six players * ''a dream foretold'' (2001) for four players * ''Construction in Metal and Wood'' (2001) percussion and piano * ''Crossfire'' (2000) two percussion * ''Peripeteia'' (1999) clarinet, violin and cello * ''On the Lightness of the Moon'' (1998) clarinet, violin, viola and piano * ''After Blue'' (1998) flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion, 1998 * ''Dajunso Ma Dor Da Duca'' (1997) nine-part chorus * ''Tapestries'' (1997) violin, cello and piano, 1997 * ''Windsongs'' (1996) flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn * ''Trionometry'' (1996) flute, clarinet and piano, 1996 * ''Violuminescence'' (1995) violin solo and chamber orchestra, 1995 * ''Twinning'' (1994) violin and piano, 1994 * ''String Quartet No.1'' (1994) * ''A Serenade for Six'' (1993) flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion * ''Smokin' with Cocuswood'' (1992) oboe, string quartet and piano * ''Head over Heels'' (1992) solo electronic keyboard with computer * ''Three Little Piano Pieces'' (1992) * ''Octet'' (1991) – flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello and piano * ''Sonata for Cello and Piano'' (1990) * ''Variations for Piano'' (1988) * ''Septet'' (1987) – flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano and percussion * ''Impromptu'' (1985) clarinet and piano * ''Letters and the Weather of Six Mornings'' (1984) soprano and piano * ''Paysages Modernes'' (1983) large orchestra * ''Song: Beauty is a Shell from the Sea'' (1981) SATB with flute, oboe, bass clarinet, horn, string quartet, harp and guitar * ''Concerto for Piano and Orchestra'' (1980) * ''Triptych'' (1979) solo flute * ''Matin'' (1978) CD * ''Ontogenesis'' (1978) flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano * ''Avian Landscapes'' (1987) CD * ''In Delirium of Sunrise'' (1977) string quartet * ''Cheville'' (1976) large orchestra * ''Divertimento'' (1976) oboe, clarinet, violin and cello * ''Movements for Guitar'' (1976) * ''Prelude for Guitar'' (1971)

Recordings

* ''Music of Richard Festinger.'' New Millenium Ensemble. Bridge Records 9245 * ''Richard Festinger: Tapestries and Other Works.'' Laurel Trio, Earplay, Curtis Macomber. New World/CRI NWCR832 * ''A Serenade for Six.'' New Millenium Ensemble. New World/CRI NWCR772 * ''Septet**, the Earplay ensemble, Centaur CD 2274 * ''Triptych'', Samuel Baron, flute, Contemporary Recording Studios vinyl LP CRS 8738 * Various tracks, Joan Baez, ''One Day at a Time'', Vanguard Records * ''Live at Pangaea, volumes I and II'', Independent Records, San Rafael, CA, vinyl LPs

Footnotes

External links

Richard Festinger bio at San Francisco State UniversityOfficial Richard Festinger websitereview of Festinger CD on Bridge RecordsReview at the Journal of the Society for American Music, Volume 4 – Issue 02 – 2010Festinger page at publisher C.F. Peters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Festinger, Richard 1948 births Living people 20th-century classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians American classical composers American male classical composers San Francisco State University faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni