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He is a
composer, conductor and multi-instrumentalist born in
Pennsylvania. His father taught him cantorial and
classical music while his uncle introduced him to jazz artists and took him
to see many of them in person.
He began taking piano lessons when he was 7 years old, and
experimented with the trumpet and tuba before deciding to concentrate on
the French horn. In 1948 he
spent a year at Oberlin Conservatory of Music but also earned a Bachelors
degree in European history from George
Washington University. During these years he was an extra
horn player with the National Symphony Orchestra. From 1952 to 1954 he was with the United States army in Europe
and he played with the Seventh Army Symphony. While he was posted in Paris
he devoted himself to composition and played with Lionel Hampton's band
along with other jazz groups. On
his return to the US
he attended the Manhattan School of Music and also wrote the music for, and
acted in, the film Pull My Daisy, which was narrated by Jack
Kerouac. He was asked to write
further scores once this work had been heard and his best-known works are
in The Manchurian Candidate and Splendor in the Grass.
Sonata recordings
Centaur CRC 2622
Piano - Barbara Meister
Sources:
- http://www.davidamram.com/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Amram
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