Barbara Kolb: Appello (1976)

Tilted Head Ensemble; Yumi Suehiro, piano
DiMenna Center for Classical Music
May 22, 2024
Barbara Kolb has created a distinctive contemporary form of Impressionism, both turbulent and sensual. Her music is characterized by colorful, interwoven textures and a freely atonal, yet deeply expressive harmonic language. Many of her works have drawn upon ideas and images having their sources in literature or the visual arts.
Kolb received her B.M. (cum laude, 1961) and M.M. degrees (1964) from the Hartt College of Music at the University of Hartford, where she studied with Arnold Franchetti, Lukas Foss and Gunther Schuller. Following her degrees, Kolb relocated to Vienna, Austria from 1966-1967 with a Fulbright Fellowship. She was the first female American composer to win the Prix de Rome, in 1969.
Numerous major performances of Ms. Kolb's works include those by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Pierre Boulez, by the Boston Symphony under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, the Atlanta Symphony with Robert Shaw, the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwartz, and the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony, all under Leonard Slatkin.
From 1979 to 1982, Kolb served as the artistic director of contemporary music at the Third Street Music School Settlement, where she presented the "Music New to New York" concert series. Additionally, she has had a professional teaching career teaching at Rhode Island College and Eastman School of Music as a visiting professor in Composition.
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Scott D. Miller, Artistic Director
Carl Christian Bettendorf, Conductor
Mitchell McCarthy, Producer
www.tiltedheadmusic.org