Shulamit Ran facts for kids
Shulamit Ran (Hebrew: שולמית רן; born October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli-American composer. A composer is someone who writes music. When she was 14, Shulamit moved from Israel to New York City. She went to the Mannes College of Music on a special scholarship.
Shulamit Ran is famous for her amazing music. Her piece called Symphony (written in 1990) won her the Pulitzer Prize for Music. This is a very important award for music! She was only the second woman ever to win this prize. The first woman to win was Ellen Taaffe Zwilich in 1983.
Ran also taught music composition at the University of Chicago for many years, from 1973 to 2015. Besides composing, she has performed as a pianist in Israel, Europe, and the U.S. Her musical works have been played all over the world by many different orchestras and music groups.
Contents
Shulamit's Life Story
Growing Up and Learning Music
Shulamit Ran was born in Israel in 1949. She started writing songs when she was just seven years old, often setting them to Hebrew poems. By the time she was nine, she was already studying composition with some of Israel's best composers, like Alexander Boskovich and Paul Ben-Haim.
When she was a child, her father would play Jewish cantoral music on the radio. This music had a big influence on her. You can hear this influence in her opera, Between Two Worlds – The Dybbuk.
Shulamit was able to continue her music studies as she grew older. She received scholarships from the Mannes College of Music in New York and the American Israel Cultural Foundation. She studied piano with Nadia Reisenberg and Dorothy Taubman. She also learned composition from Norman Dello Joio and Ralph Shapey. While in the United States, composers Ralph Shapey and Elliott Carter helped her develop her unique musical style, which was always growing and changing.
Teaching and Academic Career
After studying with Ralph Shapey, he invited Shulamit to follow in his footsteps and become a music educator. In 1973, when she was 26, Ran joined the faculty at the University of Chicago. There, she became a very respected professor in the Department of Music. She also became the artistic director of Contempo, a group that plays modern music.
Shulamit Ran taught many students who became successful composers themselves, including Melinda Wagner. She retired from the University of Chicago in June 2015. She also became a member of important groups like the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
About Her Musical Works
Music for Special Occasions
Shulamit Ran's music is often requested for special events. For example, her piece Legends was asked for to celebrate two big anniversaries: the 100th birthday of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the 100th birthday of the University of Chicago.
Who Performs Her Music?
Many of the world's top orchestras have performed Shulamit Ran's music. These include famous groups like the New York Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Her works have also been played by many smaller music groups, called chamber ensembles, from all over the world.
Her music has been heard in many famous places, such as the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center. It has also been featured at well-known summer music festivals like Tanglewood and Aspen.
Shulamit Ran's Compositions
Shulamit Ran has written many different types of music. Here are some examples of her works:
Music for Small Groups (Chamber Ensemble)
- A Prayer (1981) – for horn, clarinet, bassoon, and drums
- Bach-Shards (2002) – for a string quartet (four string instruments)
- Chicago Skyline (1991) – for brass instruments and percussion
- Double Vision (1976) – for two groups of five instruments and piano
- String Quartet No. 3 – Glitter, Shards, Doom, Memory (2013)
- Moon Songs (2011) – for voice, flute, cello, and piano
Music for Solo Instruments
- Birds of Paradise (2014) – for flute and piano
- East Wind (1987) – for solo flute
- For an Actor (1978) – a solo piece for clarinet
- Hyperbolae (1976) – for piano
- Spirit (2017) – for clarinet
Operas
- Between Two Worlds (The Dybbuk) (1997) – an opera in two acts
- Anne Frank (2023) – an opera about Anne Frank
Music for Full Orchestra
- Concerto for Orchestra (1986)
- Legends for orchestra (1992–93)
- The Show Goes On (2008) – for clarinet and orchestra
- Symphony (1989–90)
- Violin Concerto (2002–03) – for violin and orchestra
Music for Voices (Vocal and Choral)
- Amichai Songs (1985) – songs for voices
- O The Chimneys (Not Yet Released) – for mezzo-soprano voice and chamber group
- Shirim L'Yom Tov (Four Festive Songs) (2003 and 2005) – for a choir singing without instruments
Awards and Recognitions
Shulamit Ran has received many important awards and honors throughout her career. She has been given special grants and commissions from many foundations, including the Ford Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation.
Ran was named the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's second composer-in-residence. This means she worked closely with the orchestra from 1990 to 1997. Her Symphony, which was performed in 1990, won her the famous Pulitzer Prize in 1991. It also won first place in the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. As mentioned before, this made her the second woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in music.
She has also received five honorary doctorates, which are special degrees given to honor her achievements. Her music is published by major companies, and her works have been recorded by more than 12 different record labels.
