George Crumb

George Crumb was born in Charleston, West Virginia in 1929. He studied at the Mason College of Music in Charleston, the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana under Eugene Weigel, the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin under Boris Blacher and the University of Michigan, where he studied with Ross Lee Finney. He has taught at Hollins College, Virginia and the University of Colorado. From 1964-1965 he was creative associate / composer-in-residence at the Buffalo Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, at SUNY Buffalo. In 1965 he began a long association with the University of Pennsylvania where, in 1983, he was appointed Annenberg Professor of the Humanities. He retired in May 1997 from teaching.

Most of Crumb's vocal compositions are settings of the poetry of Federico García Lorca. His music in general is infused with striking, innovative colors and fascinating structural ideas, which have influenced a generation of younger composers. He has named Debussy, Mahler and Bartók as the principal influences on his own music.

Among his numerous awards: Rockefeller grant, 1964; National Institute of Arts and Letters grant; Guggenheim grant: 1967, 1973; Pulitzer Prize (for Echoes of Time and the River), 1968; UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers Award, 1971; Koussevitzky Recording Award, 1971; Fromm grant, 1973; Member, National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1975; Ford grant, 1976; Prince Pierre de Monaco Gold Medal, 1989; Brandeis University Creative Arts Award; Honorary member, Deutsche Akademie der Kunste; Honorary member, International Cultural Society of Korea as well as 6 honorary degrees.