Vivian Adelberg Rudow facts for kids
Vivian Adelberg Rudow, born in 1936, is an American composer. She also works as a performance artist, conductor, and concert producer. She creates music for everything from a single instrument to a full orchestra. Her music includes both acoustic (regular instruments) and electroacoustic (using electronics) styles. Vivian lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Learning Music
Vivian Adelberg Rudow studied music at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She earned a degree in piano in 1960. Later, in 1979, she received a master's degree in composing music. She learned piano from Austin Conradi. She also studied composing with Jean Eichelberger Ivey and Robert Hall Lewis. Her very first lessons in music and theory were with Grace Newsom Cushman. This was at the Junior Conservatory Camp, which is now known as The Walden School.
Amazing Awards and Honors
Vivian Adelberg Rudow has won many awards for her music. Since 1987, she has received multiple ASCAP Plus Awards. These awards recognize composers for their musical achievements.
In 1982, her piece Force III was performed for the first time. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played it under the direction of Sergiu Comissiona. This was a special moment because she was the first composer from Maryland to have an orchestral work played in the new Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.
In 1986, one of Rudow's compositions won a big award. Her piece, With Love; a fantasy for live cello and decorated cello cases, in memory of Myrtle Hollins Adelberg, won First Prize. This was at the 14th International Electroacoustic Music Composition Competition in Bourges, France. She also won First Prize in the International Double Reed Society Composition Contest for her piece Kaddish for solo bassoon. Vivian has also received grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and City Arts. She also got a Meet-the-Composer Grant.
Her Music Career
Vivian Adelberg Rudow's music has been performed all over the world. Her composition Urbo Turbo was even recorded by the famous London Philharmonic Orchestra. She often works with Grace Cavalieri, a well-known poet from Maryland. They have created three special radio shows featuring Vivian's music. These shows were part of Cavalieri’s "Poet and the Poem" satellite radio broadcasts.
Vivian has also created her own unique style of performance art. She calls these presentations “The Vivian.” In 2000, she performed her piece Juan Blanco, Cuban Lawyer Variations of Variations in Havana, Cuba. This was during a music festival celebrating the 80th birthday of Juan Blanco. He was the director of the Cuban Electroacoustic Music studio. She performed this piece again in 2001 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Vivian was also the founder of Res Musica Baltimore. This group later became Res MusicAmerica. It was a successful organization from 1980 to 1991. Its goal was to present the works of living American composers. In 1988, she organized an International Electroacoustic Music Festival in Baltimore.
Music Recordings
Vivian Adelberg Rudow's music has been released on several albums. Here are some of them:
- Love, Loss and Law, in memory of Myrtle Hollins Adelberg and Harry Adelberg. This album features music documentaries like “With Love” and “Portraits of Lawyers.” It was released in December 2009.
- Le Chant du Monde, on the Harmonia Mundi Label. This album includes her piece “With Love,” performed by Paula Skolnick-Virizlay on cello.
- Electroshock Records– Various Electroacoustic Music, Vol. VIII (2003) includes her piece “Racing Inside The Milky Way.”
- Electroshock Records– Various Electroacoustic Music, Vol. IX (2004) features her piece “Cuban Lawyer, Juan Blanco.”
- Sunbursts, solo piano works by 7 American women. This album features Nanette Kaplan Solomon playing piano, and includes Vivian's “Rebecca’s Suite.”
