Composers
Gerard Schurmann
© Arden Ash
Born: 1924
Gerard Schurmann was born in 1924 of Dutch parents in the former Dutch East Indies, but lived in England from childhood until 1981, when he settled in the United States. He studied composition with Alan Rawsthorne, piano with Kathleen Long and conducting with Franco Ferrara. At the end of World War II, and service in the Royal Air Force, Schurmann briefly held the position of Netherlands cultural attaché in London. While still in his early twenties, he was appointed resident orchestral conductor at the Netherlands Radio in Hilversum. After his subsequent return to England, he established himself as a composer with a growing international reputation.
The recipient of numerous international awards and commissions, Gerard Schurmann has written music for a wide variety of media. His catalogue of concert works include the Six Studies of Francis Bacon (1968) and Variants (1970) for orchestra, The Gardens of Exile (1989-90) for cello and orchestra, the opera-cantata Piers Plowman(1979-80), the choral cantata The Double Heart (1976), the orchestral song-cycle Chuench'I (1967) on poems from the Chinese, concertos for Violin and Piano written for, and first performed by Ruggiero Ricci and John Ogdon respectively, a set of Nine Slovak Folk Songs (1988) for soprano, tenor and orchestra. There are also many solo instrumental works, songs and chamber music.
Schurmann's Concerto for Orchestra was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and first performed by them for their centenary anniversary concert in March 1996, with conductor Edo de Waart. The piece was subsequently recorded on the Chandos label, alongside the Schurmann’s Violin Concerto, featuring the BBC Philharmonic conducted by the composer. In December 2005, Gaudiana was given its premiere by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rumon Gamba. The piece, a set of symphonic studies for orchestra, draws its inspiration from the work of the Catalan architect Atoni Gaudí.
Gerard Schurmann has now made his home in the USA. His appearances as composer/conductor for performances of his music continue to take him all over the world.
External Websites
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