Michael Seyfrit

Biography

Michael Seyfrit was born in Kansas in 1947 and grew up in Pasco, Washington and Piqua, Ohio. In the course of a multifaceted career, Seyfrit did research and historical orchestrations for the Smithsonian Institution's Divisions of Musical Instruments and Performing Arts, and was Curator of Musical Instruments at the Library of Congress for four years. His writings include Musical Instruments in the Dayton C. Miller Collection at the Library of Congress, Volume I: Recorders, Fifes, and Simple System Transverse Flutes of One Key, and the articles on woodwind instruments in the 1986 edition of The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. As a composer, he received the Charles Ives Scholarship from the National Academy of Arts and Letters.

As an instrumentalist on recorder, baroque oboe and baroque flute, Seyfrit performed and recorded with the Smithsonian Chamber Players and appeared with other ensembles including Hesperus, Wondrous Machine, Berkeley Collegium Musicum, Portland Baroque Orchestra and Early Music Guild of Oregon. His final years were spent on the West Coast, where he worked as a computer programmer. Michael Seyfrit died of AIDS in Portland, Oregon at the age of 46 on May 29, 1994. —Nurit Tilles

  • solo instrumental (non-keyboard)
  • ACE Publications

    52 title(s)
    Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
    Michael Seyfrit PATCHWORK violin and marimba solo, with alto flute, Ehn, bscl, 2 perc
    Michael Seyfrit PEACE (SYMPHONY NO.2) band:pic-2-2-ehn-Ebcl-3-Ebalcl- Bbbcl-Ebcontrcl-2-cbsn,4(hn)-3-2-btbn-euph-1,4perc,timp
    Michael Seyfrit PORTAL ob,ehn,cl,bsn
    Michael Seyfrit QUINTET fl, ob, a-clarinet, hn, bsn
    Michael Seyfrit REFUGE ehn,cl,alsax,tbn,pf,vln,vcl,cb, echo consort(3 unspec instr)
    Michael Seyfrit REMEMBERING OUR FRIENDS male choir, ob, Ehn, pf, vcl
    Michael Seyfrit RITUAL Tenor and Piano
    Michael Seyfrit SAM DONE THE BEST HE KIN voice, piano
    Michael Seyfrit SERENADE alt rec(or fl),hp
    Michael Seyfrit SHADOWS & THE NIGHT WIND alfl,cl,mmb,timp
    Michael Seyfrit SILK DANCERS voice, piano
    Michael Seyfrit SIMILES solo oboe & cello, 4 flutes (4th = alto fl), 4 perc
    Michael Seyfrit SLEEPWALK vla d'amore, harp
    Michael Seyfrit SLICE OF LIFE
    string orcherstra
    Michael Seyfrit SPANS AND CHANGES solo cl, 8 fl,ehn,b.op,hp,db
    Michael Seyfrit SYMPHONY FOR CARILLON SOLO carillon
    Michael Seyfrit TEN PIECES FOR JEFF BIDDICK Solo Saxophone
    Michael Seyfrit THREE SOLOS AND ALL
    Horn, Ehn, Cl
    Michael Seyfrit THREE VIEWS OF THE MOON 2pf
    Michael Seyfrit TRIALOGUE celesta, harpsichord, muffled piano
    Michael Seyfrit TRUMPET TUNE
    solo reed, accompaniment (kb)
    Michael Seyfrit VARIEGATIONS pf
    Michael Seyfrit Wedding music for Jean and Chris flute, horn, cello
    Michael Seyfrit WHAT HAS COME ON THIS DAY? - a piece for Good Friday voices (2-part choir), viola, timpani
    Michael Seyfrit WINDFEST: SYMPHONY NO.1 2fl, ob, 2EH, 2cl(Bb and A), sop sax, alto sax, tenor sax, 2 bsns

    Additional Works