Robert Michael Lombardo (born 5 March 1932) 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 ...

and composition teacher.

Life

Born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, to Sicilian immigrants, Lombardo received his musical training at the

Hartt College of Music The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...

, the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

(BMus., composition ''cum laude'', 1954, MMus., composition, 1955),Official website - comprehensive biography
/ref> Hochschule für Musik, Berlin (1958–1959) and the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

(Ph.D., composition, 1959–1961). His principal composition teacher was

Arnold Franchetti Arnold Franchetti (1911–1993) was a composer born in Lucca, Italy who later emigrated to the United States. Early life As a boy, Franchetti studied composition and piano with his father, Baron Alberto Franchetti (1860–1942). Baron Franchett ...

.Official website - brief bio
/ref> He also studied with

Philip Bezanson Philip Thomas Bezanson (January 6, 1916 – March 11, 1975) was an American composer and educator. Life Born in Athol, Massachusetts, he graduated from Yale University School of Music in 1940 and after war services enrolled in the graduate progr ...

and

Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (he ...

."Robert Lombardo" at the Northwestern University Library
/ref> Lombardo began teaching music theory at the

in 1959, then moved to Hartt College in 1963. In 1964, Lombardo became Professor of theory and composition and Composer-in-Residence at

The Music Conservatory of Chicago College of Performing Arts The Music Conservatory was founded in 1867 as the Chicago Musical College, a conservatory. In 1954, the Chicago Musical College became part of Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schau ...

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, a position he would hold for 35 years until 1999.

Works

Lombardo's compositions include over 200 works for opera, orchestra, chamber music, instrumental solos, choral music, musicals, and electronic music. He has collaborated with his wife, Kathleen,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, on several compositions. Lombardo is also one of the few composers writing for the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

. Dimitris Marinos performed his Concerto for Mandolin and String Quartet in a world premiere in Chicago in 1995. In addition, Marinos has recorded six of Lombardo's compositions. Lombardo's works have been performed all over the world. In 1992, contemporary music group CUBE performed his work, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

hosted a performance of several of his works on his 80th birthday. And for these, Lombardo has been the recipient of multiple awards. In 1964, he received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in Music Composition, and two grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

and three

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

Grants in 1962, 1963 and 1964 among others. Lombardo's works are not limited to simply compositions; he is also respected for his commissions, which include an important work commissioned by the

Serge Koussevitzky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...

Foundation and housed in the Library of Congress. Lombardo's papers, including musical scores and correspondence, are housed at the

Northwestern University Library Northwestern University Libraries is the main academic library system of Northwestern University. The library holds 7.9 million item including 228,505 maps, 107,446 print journals and 173,089 electronic journals, making it the 11th largest library ...

References

External links

Official website
* *http://www.crosssound.com/CSarchives/SOLOISTS/musiciansall.html

January, 1992 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lombardo, Robert American male composers 21st-century American composers 1932 births Living people 21st-century American male musicians