Lloyd Ultan

Biography

Lloyd Ultan (1929 - 1998) was an American composer of contemporary classical music.

Ultan received a bachelor's degree from New York University, a master's degree from Columbia University, and a doctorate from the University of Iowa. In 1971, he founded, and, from 1971 to 1974, served as Director of the Composer's Residency Program at Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, Virginia.

Ultan served as chairman of the Department of Music at American University in Washington, D.C. for 13 years, and spent a year as Visiting Professor of Composition and Theory at the Royal College of Music in London. He has also lectured at Cambridge University and been a visiting composer on numerous college and university campuses in the United States.

He was a professor and chairman (and later emeritus professor and chairman) of composition, music theory, and electronic and computer music at the School of Music University of Minnesota, and also served as the Director of the Electronic/Computer Music Studio. He was responsible for founding the School of Music and served as its director from 1975 to 1986.

He composed over 60 works for a wide variety of genres including electronic music, solo and chamber works, and compositions for voice. His works have been performed and broadcast throughout the world, including in China and Taiwan. His works have been performed by the Tokyo String Quartet, the Pro Arte String Quartet, the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, William Blount, Alexander Braginsky, Young Nam Kim, Tanya Remenikova, and Thomas Murray. He has written numerous articles and a book, Music Theory: Compositional Problems and Practices in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (with an accompanying workbook/anthology).

Ultan's notable students include Edie Hill and Scott L. Miller.

Among his numerous fellowships, grants, and awards were a Rockefeller Foundation Residency Fellowship and three residencies at the MacDowell Colony, with a Norlin/MacDowell Outstanding Composer of the Year Award for 1982.

The 160-seat Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall at the University of Minnesota's School of Music (Donald N. Ferguson Hall) is named for him.

  • ACE Publications

    48 title(s)
    Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
    Lloyd Ultan PEACE BE MULTIPLIED
    satb(pf/org for reh)
    Lloyd Ultan PITCHIPOI (THE CHILDREN OF DRANCY) msop,bbar,child,vla & orch:2-2-2-2,2-2-0-0,timp/bdr,pf,str
    Lloyd Ultan POET & THE HARLEQUIN, THE tpt,pf
    Lloyd Ultan QUINTET for Guitar and String Quartet
    gtr,str qrt
    Lloyd Ultan REFLECTIONS ON A TRADITION
    orch: 2-2-2-2, 2-0-0-0, strings
    Lloyd Ultan SET OF FOUR flute
    Lloyd Ultan SILENCES
    contralt,pf
    Lloyd Ultan SINFONIA (from The Man With a Hoe) pic-3-2-enhn-2-bcl-2; 4-3-3-1; timp; perc; hp; strings
    Lloyd Ultan SONATA for Cello and Piano
    vcl,pf
    Lloyd Ultan SONATA for Viola and Piano Viola and Piano
    Lloyd Ultan SONATA "Fuschl Am See"
    pf
    Lloyd Ultan Sonatine for Unaccompanied Bassoon Bassoon
    Lloyd Ultan STRING QUARTET NO.1
    st qt
    Lloyd Ultan STRING QUARTET NO.2
    str qrt
    Lloyd Ultan STRING TRIO vln,vla,vcl
    Lloyd Ultan SUITE FOR UNACCOMPANIED CELLO vcl
    Lloyd Ultan SYMPHONY NO. 2
    orch:pic-2-2-ehn-2-bcl-2-cbsn,4-3-3-1, 5perc,xyl,hp,str
    Lloyd Ultan THREE PRELUDES
    pf
    Lloyd Ultan TO A LITTLE QUEEN
    pf
    Lloyd Ultan VOICES OF THE RIVER sop,fl,cl,bsn,vln,vla,vcl
    Lloyd Ultan WAKONDA SKETCH solo pf,orch:2-1-2-bcl-1,2-2-2-1,str
    Lloyd Ultan WANAKI WIN orch: 3-2-2-bcl-2; 4-3-3-1; pf, timp, perc, str
    Lloyd Ultan WEDDING SONG
    sop(or ten) solo

    Additional Works