Login      
Hugh Aitken
Librettist

Biography
Composer and former faculty member Hugh Aitken (B.S. '49, M.S. '50, composition) died on December 24 at the age of 88. He is survived by his wife, Laura Tapia Aitken, and their children, Peter and Alexandra, two grandchildren, and one great grandchild.

Born in New York City, Aitken studied violin with his father and piano with his grandmother before switching to clarinet. He enrolled at New York University as a chemistry major, but left to serve in the Army Air Corps in World War II as a B-17 navigator in Europe. In a 1987 interview with the Wyckoff (N.J.) News, Aitken said, “I told myself if I got through the war, I was going to study composition.” Juilliard didn't have a composition major at the time, so he studied clarinet with Arthur Christmann; by the time he graduated, composition, which he studied with Vincent Persichetti, Bernard Wagenaar, and Robert Ward, was a major.

Aitken started teaching composition at Juilliard in 1951 and remained for two decades; he also taught Literature and Materials of Music. In 1970, he was hired to join what is now William Patterson University's expanding music staff, where he served in numerous capacities, including as chairman, until his retirement, in 1996. Aitken, who received numerous high-profile prizes and commissions, composed more than 80 works, including two operas, three violin concertos, a large-scale oratorio called The Revelation of St. John the Divine, and 10 solo cantatas for voice and instruments. Among his commissions was “The Drunkard,” one of 13 variations by Juilliard composers on a theme written by then-president William Schuman for faculty member José Limón. It was performed here in April 1961.

In the 1987 News interview, Aitken talked about the challenges and rewards of a life in music. “Composing is hard work. It's good when things come easily but agony is not too strong a word to describe the difficulty when things don't work out,” he said. “You don't go into music to become wealthy. Indeed, genteel poverty is a fact of life for many in music. But I consider it absolutely wonderful, surprising, and even outlandish that I have been able to … get paid for doing something that I absolutely love to do.”

There are no productions for this artist in the Season Schedule of Performances which currently only dates back to 1991.

Artist Information

All information is derived from OPERA America's Season Schedule of Performances and titles databases which date back to 1991. OPERA America is constantly updating this data. If you feel that a work or an artist has been omitted or that information is incorrect, please use the linked forms below.
Title Information Form
Artist Information Form

Works by Artist
Fables

 
STORED ADMIN COOKIE *
actor id: 0
name:
company:
email
ind id: 0
memb level: 0
expiration date: 12:00:00 AM
current url: /Applications/NAWD/people.aspx
Login As
* Visible only to OPERA America Administrators for testing purposes. Shows security cookie contents.
 
 
————
National Opera Center
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001
212.796.8620   •   Info@operamerica.com
CONNECT WITH US
                 

PARTNERS
 
Terms of Service   •   Privacy Policy   •   Copyright Policy   © Copyright 1995–2024 OPERA America Inc.