Irene Britton Smith

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Irene Britton Smith (born December 22, 1907 in Chicago - † February 15, 1999 ) was an American composer.

Smith attended Wendell Phillips High School and Chicago Normal School and then worked as a teacher. After taking piano and violin lessons as a child, she spent the summer holidays studying with Stella Roberts and Leo Sowerbyam at the American Conservatory of Music , where she received a Bachelor of Music degree in 1943. From 1946–47 she studied composition with Vittorio Giannini at the Juilliard School of Music , and in 1956 she completed her studies with Leon Stein at DePaul University with a master's degree.

She also took classes with Irving Fine at Berkshire Music Center and Wayne Barlow at Eastman School of Music , and in 1958 she traveled to Fontainebleau to study with Nadia Boulanger . After retiring from teaching in 1978, she taught music education for children and young people for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra . Almost forty of her compositions are known to date. Her song cycle Dream Cycle was premiered in 1947 by JoAnne Pickens , her violin sonata in 1990 by Gregory Walker and Helen Walker-Hill (released in 1995 on the CD Kaleidoscope: Music by African-American Women ).

Works

  • Passacaglia and Fugue in C-sharp Minor for piano
  • Invention in Two Voices for piano
  • Variations on a Theme of MacDowell for piano
  • Psalm 46 for choir and baritone
  • Reminiscence for violin and piano
  • Fairest Lord Jesus for female choir
  • Sonata for Violin and Piano
  • Let Us Break Bread Together , spiritual arrangement for baritone and piano
  • Fairest Lord Jesus , Spiritual
  • Dream Cycle , song cycle based on Paul Laurence Dunbar
  • String trio
  • Sinfonietta in three movements for orchestra

swell

personal data
SURNAME Smith, Irene Britton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American composer
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1999