Marilyn J. Ziffrin

Marilyn J. Ziffrin (1926-2018) was a composer whose most recent work, Strings, premiered in New York in 2016. Ziffrin, who was in residence in 1961, 1963, 1971, 1977, 1980, and 1989, earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a M.F.A. in music from Columbia University. She went on to study for three years with Alexander Tcherepnin, and taught music at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago from 1961 until 1967. She also wrote, and her biography, Carl Ruggles: Composer, Painter and Storyteller, is considered the definitive biography on Ruggles. She also taught at New England College in Henniker and gave private composition lessons at St. Paul's School in Concord, where one of her most renowned composition students was Augusta Read Thomas. Ziffrin received many grants, prizes, and commissions, and was a guest composer at several colleges and universities. Her numerous compositions span several genres including chamber music, orchestra, concert band, solo instrumental, opera, and choral works. She was awarded first prize from Delius Composition Competition for the song cycle “Haiku.” Her work SONO, for cello and piano, was a semi-finalist in the 1983 Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards. In 2007, Ziffrin was recognized by the NH Governors Arts Awards with the Lotte Jacobi Living Treasure Award.