Russell Steinberg
Composer, Conductor, Performer, and Lecturer——(Scroll down for Catalog)
Ph.D. in Music from Harvard University
M.M. from the New England Conservatory
B.A. from UCLA.
My defining moment occurred in a master class as a teenager when I plucked the courage to perform an original composition for legendary guitarist Andres Segovia. The Maestro had only negative things to say about all the other students. But for me, Segovia lifted his scowl. He remarked that "the composer showed genuine talent” but lacked structure, urging me to carefully study the scores of Mozart. Trembling from my audacity as well as excitement at the master's tentative approval, I immediately left the guitar for serious score study.
Years and many Mozart scores later, I'm now a highly active composer, performer, conductor, and lecturer. I began instrumental studies in Los Angeles with Dorothy Compinsky and composition training with Kenneth Klauss. I later studied piano with Earle C. Voorhies and Salome Arkatov, classical guitar with Ronald Purcell, and composition most notably with Leon Kirchner, Arthur Berger, and Elaine Barkin.
Recent commissions include the world music ensemble MANY AXES, the UCLA Wind Ensemble, Los Angeles Philharmonic violinist Mitchell Newman, the Jewish Center for Culture and Creativity, the Music Conservatory of Westchester, NY, and the Daniel Pearl Foundation. The Daniel Pearl Foundation commission, Stories From My Favorite Planet, was recently featured on “Global Village,” the KPFK radio program hosted by John Schneider and given its East Coast Premiere in Baltimore. The Westchester Symphony in New York and the Hopkins Symphony in Baltimore jointly commissioned my first symphony CityStrains. My music has been performed in the United States and abroad, including concerts in Los Angeles, Colorado Springs, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Aspen, Connecticut, San Francisco, New Jersey, Vermont, Germany, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and recently Israel. Awards include an ASCAP Young Composers Grant, Composers Inc. and NACUSA prizes, MacDowell and Aspen Fellowships, and First Prize in the New World String Quartet competition.
I'm actively involved in education. I am Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, a group that includes students from over 60 schools in the LA area. I'm also Director of the Stephen Wise Music Academy sponsored by the Stephen S. Wise Temple of Los Angeles. Recently I've been appointed to the UCLA Faculty where I'm a Lecturer in music theory and composition. The Los Angeles Philharmonic includes me as a regular speaker for Upbeat Live pre-concert events.
Available recordings include "Stories From My Favorite Planet," produced by the Daniel Pearl Foundation (available at www.danielpearl.org), "Desert Stars", a recording of Steinberg’s music for piano and classical guitar (available at CD Baby), and my "Flute Sonata" on New Voices; chamber music for flute performed by Michelle Stanley available at www.centaurrecords.com.
I've created an unusual approach to music listening called AudioMaps™. I maintain that I can teach a novice to fully comprehend and follow a Beethoven symphony in less than 20 minutes of explanation of an AudioMap™. Recently, Masterwork Journeys published both the first volume of my AudioMaps to the Beethoven Symphonies (Symphony #1) and the first volume of a video lecture series titled Classical Vienna.
Russell Steinberg
CONCERT MUSIC
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Composition Catalogue
Orchestra
| Genre | Title | Instrumentation | Duration |
|---|
| Orchestra | Symphony #1 "CityStrains" | Winds 3, 3 Perc. | 18 min. |
| Orchestra | Symphony #2 "What is a Jew?" | 3 Narrators and Orchestra (Winds 2) | 45 min. |
| Orchestra | Fanfare for Orchestra | Winds in 2 | 5 min. |
| Orchestra | Sabbath Fantasy #1 | Winds in 2 | 15 min. |
| Orchestra | Sabbath Fantasy #2 | Winds in 2 | 12 min. |
| Orchestra | Ruby Overture | Winds in 2 | 3 min. |
| Orchestra |
Lights On! A Hanukkah Celebration | Winds in 2 | 24 min. |
| Orchestra | Arabesque | Winds in 2, no perc. | 4 min. |
| Orchestra | Vienna for Youth Orchestra | Winds in 2 | 4 min. |
| Orchestra | 405:8AM for Youth Orchestra | Winds in 2 | 6 min. |
Chorus
TOP| Chorus | Contrary States (William Blake) | SATB and Children's Chorus, Fl. Ob. Pno. | 18 min. |
| Chorus | Lirkod (To Dance) | SATB, Pno. | 4 min. |
| Chorus |
Lirkod (To Dance) Chamber vers. | SATB, 2 vln, 2 vc, pno | 4 min. |
Large Chamber
TOP| Nonet | Ruby Overture | 2 Fl, Ob, 2 Cl, 2 Vln, 2 Pno. | 3 min. |
| Octet | Song in Dark Times | fl, ob, cl, b. cl, vl, vla, vc, pno. | 4 min. |
Octet | Song in Dark Times | vc solo, fl, 2 cl, vl, vc, db, pno. | 4 min. | | Septet | Strange Attractors |
string quartet and world music trio (2 winds, 1 perc) | 36 min. |
| Sextet | War Piece | fl, tpt, string quartet | 15 min. |
| Sextet | Subterranean Dance | fl, cl, vl, pno, perc (marimba, vibraphone) | 8 min. |
| Sextet | Ocean Scherzos | Piano and Woodwind Quintet/td> | 25 min. |
| Sextet | City Strains | fl, cl, vl, vc, pno, perc. | 25 min. |
Quartets and Trios
TOP | Quartet | String Quartet #1 | 2vl, vla, vc | 10 min. |
| Quartet | Mulholland Fantasies | vl, vla, vc, pno | 25 min. |
| Quartet | Clarinet Quartet | fl or vl, cl, vc, pno | 25 min. |
| Quartet | Woodwind Quartet | fl, ob, cl, bsn | 7 min. |
| Quartet | Change of Heart (txt Wordsworth) | baritone, vc, harp, organ | 15 min. |
| Trio | Stories From My Favorite Planet (Daniel Pearl Tribute) | vl, pno, narrator | 45 min. |
| Trio | Rings of Saturn | fl, vl, pno | 10 min. |
| Trio | Trio for Clarinet, Cello, Piano | cl, vc, pno | 9 min. |
| Trio | Fanfares for 3Trumpets | 3 tpt | 8 min. |
| Trio | Furnace Creek Nocturne | 2 winds, 1 perc (for cedar flute, howler, shofar, waterphone, dijeridu, udu, chimes | 6 min. |
| Trio | Piano Trio #1 | vl, vc, pno | 25 min. |
| Trio | President's Dinner Trio | vl, vc, pno | 6 min. |
Duos
TOP | Duo | Flute Sonata | fl, pno | 13 min. |
| Duo | Six Duos for Violins |
2 vl | 15 min. |
| Duo | Maitri | vl, pno left-hand | 7 min. |
| Duo | Fantasy for Flute and Piano | fl, pno | 9 min. |
| Duo | Rhapsody for Violin and Piano | vl, pno | 9 min. |
| Duo | Sonata for Violin and Piano | vl, pno | 10 min. |
| Duo | Song for Dark Times | vc, pno | 4 min. |
| Duo | Songs of Wind | soprano, pno | 14 min. |
Solo Piano
TOP| Solo | Sequoia Sonata | pno | 15 min. |
| Solo | Periods of Luminance | pno | 17 min. |
| Solo | Desert Stars | pno | 15 min. |
| Solo | Small Rain | pno | 11 min. |
| Solo | Four Floating Preludes | pno | 8 min. |
| Solo | Four Pieces for Piano | pno | 11 min. |
| Solo | Arabesque | pno | 4 min. |
Solo | Joy in Sea | pno | 3 min. | | Solo | Five Finger Pieces | pno | 8 min. |
| Solo | Amazing Grace Variations | pno | 12 min. |
| Solo |
America Variation | pno | 2 min. |
| Solo | Atonal Variations | pno | 12 min. |
| Solo | Sonic Sonnets | pno | 5 min. |
| Solo |
Dichroisms (Spatterings) | pno | 7 min. |
| Solo | The Difference | pno | 5 min. |
Solo Guitar
TOP | Solo | Five Preludes for Guitar | guitar | 15 min. |
| Solo | Maui Slack Key Preludes | guitar | 8 min. |
| Solo | Guitar Memorials: From Center, Last Waltz | guitar | 6 min. |
Solo Various
TOP | Solo | Cello Tropes | cello | 12 min. |
| Solo | Organ-Aum | organ | 7 min. |
| Solo | White Crane Study | violin | 9 min. |
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Russell Steinberg
FILM MUSIC CREDITS
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Feature Films
SWEET LOVE AND DEADLY (thriller) Director: Paul Clinco
FATAL CHARM Director: Fritz Kiersch
(psychological drama starring Christopher Atkins)
Short Films
SOMETHING TRUE (dramatic short) Director: Thor Gold
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT (comedy short) Producer: UCLA Extension
STOLEN GLANCES half-hour psychodrama Director: Jason Kinchen
MIGRATION SONGS (dance performance art film) Director: Norah Zuniga-Shaw
Documentary Films
PAPER FLOWERS Producer/Director: John Bishop Media Generation
THE LAST WINDOW Producer/Director: John Bishop Media Generation
THE ART OF PRESERVING HISTORY (Aired on PBS) Producer/Director: John Bishop Media Generation
BECOMING GLORYA KAUFMAN Director: John Bishop
(Film celebrating UCLA World Arts and Cultures Department and the new Glorya Kaufman building)CHARLES CHAPMAN Director: David Slaughter
(Film on Oil/real estate magnate who founded Chapman College)
DRESSAGE FREESTYLE (competitive sport routine/video)
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