Hall of Composers
William Schuman (1910-1992)
Distinguished American composer, educator, and administrator William Schuman began composing and performing at a young age, producing a number of popular songs and playing in jazz groups. He studied at the Teacher’s College of Columbia University, The Juilliard School in New York, and the Salzburg Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.
Music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Serge Koussevitsky brought Schumann notoriety when the orchestra premièred his American Festival Overture in 1939, and Symphony No. 3 in 1941. Schumann served as director of publications for G. Schirmer, Inc., from 1945-1952, president of The Juilliard School from 1945-1962, and president of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York from 1962-1969. His has received numerous awards and prizes including the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his A Free Song. Schumann’s work displays great emotional tension characterized by powerful asymmetric rhythms and dissonance that do not lose tonal references.
Selected works include A Free Song (Pulitzer Prize, 1943), George Washington Bridge (1950), and New England Triptych (1956).
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