Russo, William (Josephy)

Russo, William (Joseph) , American composer and teacher; b. Chicago, June 25, 1928. He studied privately with Lennie Tristano (composition and improvisation, 1943–16), John J. Becker (composition, 1953–55), and Karel B. Jirâk (composition and conducting, 1955–57). He was a trombonist and chief composerarranger with the Stan Kenton Orch. (1950–54); then worked with his own groups in N.Y. and London. He taught at the School of Jazz in Lenox, Mass, (summers, 1956–57), and at the Manhattan School of Music (1958–61). In 1965 he joined the faculty of Columbia Coll. in Chicago; also was a Distinguished Visiting Prof. of Composition at the Peabody Inst. in Baltimore (1969–71), a teacher at Antioch Coll. (1971–72), and composer- in-residence of the city and county of San Francisco (1975–76). He pubi. Composing for the Jazz Orchestra (Chicago, 1961; 2^nd ed., 1973), Jazz: Composition and Orchestration (Chicago, 1968; 2^nd ed., 1974), and Composing Music: A New Approach (Chicago, 1988). Russo’s expertise as a composer-arranger has led him to create a number of remarkable third-stream scores.

Works

DRAMATIC: Opera: John Hooton (1961; BBC, London, Jan. 1963); The Island (1963); Land of Milk and Honey (1964); Antigone (1967); Aesop’s Fables, rock opera (N.Y., Aug. 17, 1972); A General Opera (1976); The Payoff, cabaret opera (Chicago, Feb. 16, 1984); A Cabaret Opera (1985; alternate forms as The Alice B. Toklas Hashish Fudge Review, N.Y, Dec. 8, 1977; Paris Lights, N.Y., Jan. 24, 1980, and The Shepherds’ Christmas, Chicago, Dec. 1979); Dubrovsky (1988); The Sacrifice (1990). ba11et: The World of Aleina (1954; rev. 1962); Les Deux Errants (Monte Carlo, April 1956); The Golden Bird (Chicago, Feb. 17, 1984). other: Other stage pieces; film music. ORCH.: Allegro for Concert Band (1957; N.Y, July 18, 1961); 2 syms.: No. 1 (1957) and No. 2, Titans (1958; N.Y, April 16, 1959); Newport Suite (Newport, R.I., July 4, 1958; rev. for Jazz Orch., 1960); Concerto grosso for Saxophone Quartet and Concert Band (N.Y, July 29, 1960); Cello Concerto (1962); 3 Pieces for Blues Band and Orch. (Ravinia Festival, July 7, 1968); Street Music: A Blues Concerto (1975; San Francisco, May 19, 1976); Urban Trilogy (1981; Los Angeles, March 13, 1982). jazz orch.: Solitaire, with Strings (1949); 2 suites: No. 1 (1952; rev. 1962) and No. 2 (1951–54; rev. 1962); 4 Pieces (1953–54); The 7 Deadly Sins (1960); Variations on an American Theme (1960; Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 4, 1961); The English Concerto, with Violin (Bath, June 11, 1963); America 1966 (Ravinia Festival, Aug. 3, 1966); The New Age Suite (1984); For My Friend (1991); The Horn Blower (1991); The Garden of Virtue (1993). CHAMBER: 21 Etudes for Brass Instruments (1959); Violin Sonata (1986); Memphis for Alto Saxophone and 9 Instruments (Memphis, Term., April 21, 1988); Women for Harmonica, Piano, and String Quartet (1990); piano pieces. vocal: rock cantatas: The Civil War (1968); David (1968); Liberation (1969); ]oan of Arc (1970); The Bacchae (1972); Song of Songs (1972). Other Cantatas: Im Memoriam for Jazz Orch. (Los Angeles, March 7, 1966); Songs of Celebration for 5 Solo Voices, Chorus, and Orch. (1971; Baltimore, Feb. 21, 1973; rev. version, San Francisco, May 18, 1975); The Tomo Cantata (N.Y, April 4, 1988). other vocal: Talking to the Sun, song cycle theater piece (Chicago, March 5, 1989); Listen Beneath for Soprano, Jazz Contralto, and Orch. (1992); In Memoriam, Hermann Conaway for Mezzo-soprano, Tenor, Baritone, and 11 Instruments (1994); choruses; songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire