James Yannatos

Biography

Composer and conductor James Yannatos (1929-2011) led the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra for more than 45 years. He was born and educated in New York City. He attended the High School of Music and Art and the Manhattan School of Music. Subsequent studies with Nadia Boulanger, Luigi Dallapiccola, Darius Milhaud, Paul Hindemith, and Philip Bezanson in composition; William Steinberg and Leonard Bernstein in conducting; and Hugo Kortschak and Ivan Galamian on violin took Yannatos to Yale University (B.M., M.M.), the University of Iowa (Ph.D.), Aspen, Tanglewood, and Paris. As a young violinist, he performed in various professional ensembles including a piano trio, string quartet, early music groups with Hindemith and Boulanger, and in the Casals Festival.

In 1964, he was appointed music director of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, and led that group on tours to Europe, Russia, South America, and Asia. He organized and co-directed the New England Composers Orchestra, the Tanglewood Young Artists Orchestra, and taught conducting at Tanglewood. He appeared as guest conductor-composer at the Aspen, Banff, Tanglewood, Chautauqua, and Saratoga festivals; with the Boston Pops, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Baltimore, and San Antonio symphonies, and the Sverdlovsk, Leningrad, Cleveland, and American Symphony chamber orchestras.

ACE Publications

79 title(s)
Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
James Yannatos ALL ABOUT MICE - VAR. ON "HICKORY-DICKORY-DOCK" FOR ORCHESTRA 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 bsn, 4 fr hn, 2 tpt, 3 tbn, tba, perc, 2 vln, vla, vlc, cbs, vv
James Yannatos ALL ABOUT SAX - FANTASY FOR SAX QUARTET Saxophone Quartet
James Yannatos AMAZING GRACE - a Choral Drama SATB chorus, Narrator, Vocal Soloists, Trio: Piano, Perc, Double Bass
James Yannatos BACH-ANLE: SUITE FOR TWO PIANOS 2 pf
James Yannatos Bits and Pieces string quartet or string orchestra
James Yannatos CANTATA: CREATION SINGS ITS OWN SONG
2 pf, fl, ob, cl, bn, tpt, perc, hp, 2 vln, vla, vc, cb
James Yannatos CONCERTO FOR CELLO AND ORCHESTRA
James Yannatos CONCERTO FOR CONTRABASS AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Solo contrabass, 1-1-1-1, 1-1-1-0, perc, hp, pf, strings
James Yannatos CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA 2222 2220 perc strings - solo piano
James Yannatos CONCERTO FOR STRING QUARTET & ORCHESTRA 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 bn, 2 hn in F, 2 tpt in C, 2 tbn, perc / solo string quartet vla, 2 vln, vlc
James Yannatos CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA 2222 1210 perc strings violin solo
James Yannatos CYCLES: A MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT
cb, vlc, cl, fl, perc, pf, vla
James Yannatos DUO FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO vln, pf
James Yannatos EIGHT HAIKU FOR SOLO FLUTE Flute
James Yannatos ELEGY - In Memoriam Stephen Albert cello, piano
James Yannatos FANTASY FOR SOLO OBOE oboe
James Yannatos FANTASY FOR VIOLA AND PIANO vla, pf
James Yannatos Four Sillies SATB
James Yannatos FULL CIRCLE: SUITE FOR STRINGS
James Yannatos HAIKU CYCLE v, fl, cl, vln, vc, pf, perc
James Yannatos HERE--THERE -- THIS AND THAT 10 players: Fl, ob, cl, bsn, hn, 5 part strings
James Yannatos I Thank You God SATB
James Yannatos JUBILEE FANFARE
James Yannatos LITTLE WAVE women's chorus, piano
James Yannatos LOVE FOR HIGH VOICE AND PIANO

Additional Works

Associated Music Publihsers/AMP

FIVE EPIGRAMS FOR STRING QUARTET