Suzanne Farrin
Suzanne Farrin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1976 (age 48–49) |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupations |
|
| Employer | |
| Spouse | Sebastián Zubieta |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship (2019) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Classical music |
| Labels | New Focus Recordings |
Suzanne Farrin (born 1976) is an American composer and ondist. A 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, she is Frayda B. Lindemann Professor of Music at CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College, and she has released two albums from New Focus Recordings.
Biography
[edit]Suzanne Farrin, from North Yarmouth, Maine, was born in 1976, and as a teenager she moved to coastal Massachusetts and then to Colorado; she cites her experiences in the former state as an inspiration in her work.[1][2] Her grandparents inspired her interest in music, and she was a keyboardist for her school's MIDI band, working with the encouragement of that band's director.[2]
After obtaining her BM from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1998,[2] she attended Yale School of Music, where she got her MM in 2000, MMA in 2003, and DMA in 2008.[3] Martin Bresnick, Ezra Laderman, Joseph Schwantner, and Evan Ziporyn were her teachers at Yale.[2]
In 2007, she began writing solo piano pieces with "Empty Chariots".[4] She has released two albums from New Focus Recordings: Corpo di Terra (2012), inspired by the poetry of Petrarch;[5] and Dolce la Morte, inspired by Michelangelo's poetry towards Tommaso dei Cavalieri.[6] In 2019, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition.[7]
She considers composing to be "a way of approaching life, a view of the world" and "think[s] of it as an act, a habit".[4] One of the recurring themes in her music is her love for the city of Rome.[8] The Courier Journal said that she was "widely recognized [for] imaginatively us[ing] electronic instruments in her work".[9]
She also performs the ondes Martenot, a Theremin-like electronic musical instrument.[7] She appeared in her capacity as a ondist on the films Blockage (2017) and Chicuarotes (2019).[7]
She starting teaching at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music,[2] where she was also chair of the department of composition.[10] She later moved to the City University of New York, where she became Frayda B. Lindemann Professor of Music at CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College.[2] In 2016, she was artist-in-residence at the Loretto Project in Kentucky.[9]
Her husband Sebastián Zubieta, whom she met during her time at Yale, has served as the music director for Americas Society.[2] As of 2007, she lived in Manhattan.[4] She has two children.[2]
She speaks Rioplatense Spanish, having done so since the late-1990s.[2]
Discography
[edit]| Title | Year | Details | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corpo di Terra | 2012 |
|
[5] |
| Dolce la Morte | 2018 |
|
[6] |
References
[edit]- ^ Keyes, Bob. "Virtually possible". Portland Press Herald. p. E1, E2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Program Notes". Miller Theatre at Columbia University. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
- ^ "Profiles in Persistence: Women of YSM". Yale School of Music. Archived from the original on January 21, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
- ^ a b c Gouveia, Georgette (February 24, 2007). "Composer strikes solo piano piece". The Journal News. p. 1D, 6D – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Suzanne Farrin: Corpo di Terra | Catalogue". New Focus Recordings. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
- ^ a b "Suzanne Farrin: Dolce la Morte | Catalogue". New Focus Recordings. Archived from the original on June 19, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Suzanne Farrin". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
- ^ "Let's hear it for the women". Evening Standard. July 12, 2018. p. 43 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Kramer, Elizabeth (August 14, 2016). "New music festival comes to Loretto, Louisville". The Courier-Journal. p. 3I – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Suzanne Farrin – Music". Hunter College. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
- 1976 births
- Living people
- University of Colorado Boulder alumni
- Yale School of Music alumni
- State University of New York at Purchase faculty
- CUNY Graduate Center faculty
- Hunter College faculty
- 21st-century American classical composers
- 21st-century American women composers
- American music educators
- American women music educators
- Ondists
- People from North Yarmouth, Maine
- Musicians from Maine