Is “classical” music a vital art or an elitist hobby that is dying of its own pretensions? Are classical musicians and modern composers in the classical tradition contributing anything to contemporary experience, or is this art merely a mannered throwback to an exploitative social order?
Born in Oakland, California, Marjorie Merryman’s works have been commissioned by such well-known groups as the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, American Guild of Organists, 20th Century Consort, Raphael Trio, Symphony Space and Collage New Music. She has steadily produced a body of orchestral, choral, solo vocal, and chamber works, as well as two oratorios and an opera, that have received critical acclaim and performances throughout the United States and in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. In the US, her works have been performed in Symphony Hall in Boston, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Carnegie Hall in New York, festivals such as Tanglewood and Spoletto, and concert halls and colleges throughout the country. She has served as composer-in-residence of the New England Philharmonic and the Billings (Montana) Symphony Orchestra, and on the boards of the New England Composers’ Orchestra, the Lily Boulanger Foundation, and Alea III.
Equally active as a teacher, Merryman has taught at Harvard, MIT, Macalester College, the New England Conservatory, and Boston University School of Music. In 2007 she joined the composition faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, where she also serves as Provost and Senior Vice President. Merryman earned her bachelor’s degree at Scripps College and graduate degrees (MFA and PhD) from Brandeis University. She counts Seymour Shifrin, Martin Boykan, Betsy Jolas, and Gail Kubik among her composition teachers.
Merryman’s many honors include the Music Award (2014) and the Walter Hinrichsen Award (1991) from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Lee Ettelson Award from Composers Inc., and prizes from the League of Composers/International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) and the WBZ Fund for the Arts. She has also received fellowships or grants from Tanglewood, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her works are published by C. F. Peters, E. C. Schirmer, APNM, and G. Schirmer; and recorded on the Koch and New World labels.