IN MEMORIAM — WILLIAM ALBRIGHT

Douglas Reed

William Albright (1944 – 1998) was one of America's most influential and distinguished composers in the latter half of the twentieth century. Although probably best known for his keyboard works, he produced works for almost every medium, several of which involve electronic, visual and theatrical elements. He was the recipient of many commissions and awards, among them The Queen Marie-José Prize for Organbook I, an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships, a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, two Koussevistzkey Composition Awards, and a Koussevitzkey Foundation commission. Born in Gary, Indiana, Albright was internationally known for his concerts of new music for organ and piano. His recital programs and compositions reflected his interest in classic and modern rag-time and other jazz styles. Albright's composition teachers included Ross Lee Finney, Olivier Messiaen, George Rochberg, and Aaron Copland. He was on the faculty of the University of Michigan from 1970 until his death in 1998.

Douglas Reed has performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. Concert tours have taken him to England, Belgium, France, Scotland, Norway, and the Czech Republic with performances in Paris, Prague, Antwerp, and Hong Kong. He has received grants and awards for commissioning new music and for other creative activity from the Indiana Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mesker Trust, and the University of Evansville which awarded him the Sadelle and Sydney Berger Award for Scholarship and Creative Activity.

Reed has been an advocate of William Albright's music for the past three decades. His doctoral dissertation (Eastman School of Music) was devoted to Albright's organ (1965 – 1975). He was reponsible for the commissions, first performances and first recordings of Four Fancies for Harpsichord (1979) and Symphony for Organ (1983). His recordings of Albright's music have been released on the Albany, ARKAY, Mulberry St. and Pro Viva labels.