George Barati

George Barati (born April 3, 1913 in Győr , Hungary ; † June 22, 1996 in San José , California; actually Gyorgy Braunstein ) is an American cellist , conductor and composer of Hungarian origin.

Life

Barati received his first musical education at the music school in Győr. He completed his music studies in 1935 at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest. During his student days he became the first cellist at the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and at the Opera House. In 1938 Barati moved to America. From 1939 to 1943 he studied composition with Roger Sessions at Princeton University , while he taught the cello himself. In 1946 he became a cellist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra . During this time he also got his first public recognition as a composer. In 1950 he went to Honolulu as Music Director of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra . In 1956 he was appointed artistic director of the Honolulu Opera Festival. The University of Hawaii awarded Barati an honorary doctorate in music. He has now embarked on an extensive international career as a conductor, conducting nearly 100 orchestras on five continents. In 1968 Barati returned and became co-director of the Villa Montalvo Center for Art in Saratoga, California . From 1971 to 1980 he was music director of the Santa Cruz (California) County Symphony Orchestra.

Works (selection)

• Chant of Light for orchestra
• Chant of Darkness for orchestra
• The Dragon and the Phoenix
• 3 inventions for timpani
• Chamber concert
• Lumberjack for trombone
• Polarization for orchestra
• Quartet for harpsichord, flute, oboe and double bass
• Sonata for violin and piano
• Symphony No. 1 Alpine
• Triple Exposure for cello

Web links

• http://library.ucsc.edu/reg-hist/barati.html ( Memento from May 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
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