Discipline: Music Composition

Robert Starer

Discipline: Music Composition
Region: Woodstock, NY
MacDowell Fellowships: 1960, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1970
More: www.robertstarer.com
Robert Starer (1924–2001) was an Austrian-born American composer, pianist, and educator. Starer was prolific and composed in many genres. His music was characterized by chromaticism and driving rhythms. His vocal works, whether set to English or Hebrew texts, were particularly praised. He composed the score for Martha Graham's 1962 ballet Phaedra. He also wrote four operas, The Intruder (1956), Pantagleize (1967), The Last Lover (1975), and Apollonia (1979). Notable concertos include Violin Concerto which was written for Itzhak Perlman and recorded by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Seiji Ozawa conducting, and his Cello Concerto, commissioned by Janos Starker and recorded by Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra with Leon Botstein conducting.

Studios

Van Zorn (formerly Kirby)

Robert Starer worked in the Van Zorn (formerly Kirby) studio.

Constructed thanks to a bequest from Sarah L. Kirby, Kirby Studio was the last new building to be erected during Mrs. MacDowell’s leadership (1907-1951). The load-bearing masonry walls were laid by local mason Augustus Beaulieu atop a fieldstone foundation. A 1995 renovation preserved the brick fireplace with wooden mantel and…

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