One observed that her work is "written with the same sense of humanity found in Mozart’s most profound opera arias or Mahler’s searching symphonies."
Biography
She was born on October 21 1949 in Tel Aviv Israel. In Shulamit Ran’s childhood she composed music that was Hebrew poetry at the age of seven. By nine she studied composition and piano. She moved to New York at 14 because, she got a scholarship to Mannes College of Music. Shulmit Ran got a scholarship at Mannes Collage of music. By the age of seven she began studying Hebrew poetry to music. She was studying composition and piano with some of the most noted musicians, including composers Alexander Boskovich, Paul Ben-Haim and within a few years she was having here works performed by professional orchestras and musicians.
She was the second woman to win the Pulitzer prize for music. She won in 1983.
She lists her late colleague and friend Ralph Shapey, with whom she studied in 1977, as an important mentor. She is now the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Music and artistic director of Contempo, formerly the Contemporary Chamber Players.
Shulimit Ran is currently the William H. Colvin Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Chicago, where she has taught sense 1973. She is also the recipient of honorary doctorates from Mount Holyoke College (1988), Spertus Institute (1994), Beloit College (1996), and the New School of Social Research in New York (1997). Shulimit Ran was in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as part of the Meet the Composer Orchestra Residencies Program for seven seasons. She was also elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992.
Style
Shulamit Ran’s music is exciting with its emotional content, yet still compelling and interesting. It is dramatic, colorful, and clearly directed. She blends lyricism and academic modernism characteristically. She turns Israeli psalms into successful symphonies Her symphonies have been reviewed as, “A score of remarkable beauty,” and, “A remarkably grateful and graceful vehicle.” Many critics have commented on the combination of "raw power and classical structure."
One critic said that her work is "written with the same sense of humanity found in Mozart’s most profound opera arias or Mahler’s searching symphonies."
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External Links
Presser Music