Collection: Wise, Bruce

Bruce Wise (1929-2013) was an American composer and musician.

Bruce was born on August 24, 1929, in Detroit, Michigan, and was the fourth son of Blanche and John M. Wise. He received a B.A. in Music from Wayne State University, Detroit, in 1953, an M.A. in Composition, June 1954, and a D.M.A. in Composition, June 1961, from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He also studied composition and piano at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany (1959-60) on a German Government Grant. Two years were spent in the army at Fort Knox, Kentucky (1954-56). He and his wife, Vivian, were married in Detroit, Michigan, on January 31, 1953, and have lived in Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Germany, and England.

Bruce taught at the University of Michigan, School of Music from 1956-1962, at the University of Missouri-Columbia from 1962-1967, and at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh from 1967 until he retired in May, 1997, when he and his wife moved to Washington, Massachusetts. Bruce received numerous grants from the University of Missouri, University of Wisconsin, National Endowment for the Arts, and National Endowment for the Humanities. During the summer of 1983, he received a research grant from The Arnold Schoenberg Institute, USC, Los Angeles. From 1985-1986, he and his family spent the year in Cambridge, England, where he was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge.

Many of his compositions, including some that have been published, have been performed throughout the U.S. and England, many of the performances with Bruce as the pianist. 

- from The Berkshire Eagle, Oct. 13, 2013.