Faye-Ellen Silverman facts for kids

Faye-Ellen Silverman (born October 2, 1947) is an American composer. She writes contemporary classical music, which is a type of modern classical music. She is also a writer and an educator.

Early Life and Learning

Faye-Ellen Silverman was born in New York City. She started learning music very early. She was almost four years old when she began studying at the Dalcroze School of Music.

When she was thirteen, she won a special competition. A famous conductor named Leopold Stokowski was one of the judges. Winning this contest led to her playing her own music at Carnegie Hall. She also appeared on a TV show called Wonderama.

She learned to play the piano, clarinet, and some viola. She also joined school bands, orchestras, and choirs. After many years at Dalcroze, she went to the Preparatory Division of the Manhattan School of Music. She then started college early, after her junior year of high school.

College and Advanced Studies

Silverman went to Barnard College. There, she studied how to compose music with Otto Luening. She also took a class about 20th-century music with Henry Cowell. She graduated with honors in music. During her junior year, she studied at the Mannes College of Music.

She then earned her master's degree in music composition at Harvard University. She continued her piano studies while living in Cambridge. Later, she returned to Columbia University for her doctorate degree (DMA). There, she studied composition and electronic music.

In 2004, Silverman took part in a music workshop in Bali. In 2013, she was chosen for a special seminar in China. She is also a founding member of several music groups. These include the International Women's Brass Conference.

Composing Music

Faye-Ellen Silverman became a published composer in her mid-twenties. A company called Seesaw Music Corporation started publishing her works. They published all her music until the owner passed away. Now, another company, Subito Music Corporation, publishes her compositions.

Awards and Recognition

Silverman's music has won many awards. Her piece "Oboe-sthenics" was chosen to represent the United States. This led to it being played on radios around the world in 1982. She also won the Indiana State Orchestral Composition Contest. This resulted in her music being performed by the Indianapolis Symphony.

She received a Governor's Citation in 1982. Also, September 30, 1982, was named Faye-Ellen Silverman Day in Baltimore. She has received awards from the National League of American Pen Women. She also gets yearly awards from ASCAP, a group that supports composers. She has received grants from "Meet the Composer" and the American Music Center.

Silverman has also been a fellow at several artist colonies. These include the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation's Villa Serbelloni. She has also been a fellow at Yaddo and MacDowell.

Performances and Commissions

Many groups have performed Dr. Silverman’s music. These include the Baltimore Symphony and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Her works have been played at festivals around the world. Some places include Brazil, Belgium, and Denmark. Her music is also often performed in New York City.

She has been asked to write music for many groups and people. These requests are called commissions. Some commissions came from the Edinboro University Chamber Players and the International Women’s Brass Conference. She has also created pieces for specific musicians. For example, she wrote a work for flutist Nina Assimakopoulos.

Teaching Music

Silverman started teaching piano to children during her last year of college. She taught at various community music schools. She also gave private lessons for piano and clarinet.

College Teaching Career

She began teaching at colleges at Columbia University. She taught at different branches of the City University of New York. Her first full-time teaching job was at Goucher College from 1977 to 1980. There, she taught music theory and other courses.

She also taught at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. She focused on 20th-century music history for graduate students. She taught at the Aspen Music Festival and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center.

From 1991 to 2016, she taught music history at Mannes College The New School for Music. She also taught composition and ear training. She lectured in Europe and across the United States. She often visited as a guest composer. She gave lectures in Warsaw, Poland, and in Lithuania. She was also a guest composer at a festival in Italy.

In the United States, she has visited many universities. She has been a guest composer at the Aspen Music Festival. She also visited Indiana State University and the University of North Texas.

Performing Music

Silverman learned piano because composers are often expected to be pianists. She became very skilled at it. She even recorded music for a German public radio station.

She has performed at various places. These include the International Festival of Experimental Music in France. She also performed at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. She has played as a soloist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic in New York City. She also plays piano to accompany singers and other musicians.

Musical Style

Faye-Ellen Silverman cares a lot about how instruments sound. She works with musicians and listens to their ideas. Many of her pieces are challenging to play. However, she tries to write music that is playable and enjoyable for both musicians and audiences.

She uses different structures for each piece of music. For example, in her orchestral work "Adhesions," she mixes pleasant melodies with sounds that clash. Her early life was filled with Jewish songs and dances. This background shows up in some of her works. One example is her early opera, "The Miracle of Nemirov." Another is "Protected Sleep," a piece for horn and marimba.

Selected Writings

• "Beethoven Today Would Be Exploring New Forms" (The Evening Sun, 1983)
• "Gesualdo: Misguided or Inspired?" (Current Musicology, 1973)
• "Otto Luening at 96" (The Sonneck Society for American Music Bulletin, 1996)

Silverman also wrote the section about 20th-century music in a book. The book is called The Schirmer History of Music, published in 1982.

See also

In Spanish: Faye-Ellen Silverman para niños