VA - Curt Cacioppo: Illuminations (2020)

Inspired by sources as diverse as the medieval poetry of Dante, aspects of Native American culture or the vernacular music he grew up with, CURT CACIOPPO’s distinctive artistic voice attracted national attention in a 1997 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, an honor in the past conferred upon such recipients as Leonard Bernstein, William Schuman and Gian Carlo Menotti. With commissions both domestic and international, he has written for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra and Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra; the Emerson, American, Moscow and Borromeo string quartets and Quartetto di Venezia; the New York Chamber Brass; and many other ensembles and soloists worldwide. A formidable pianist himself, Cacioppo has concertized with the Quartetto di Venezia and with members of the Guarneri, Borromeo and American string quartets; the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra; the Pacific, National and Boston symphonies; and the Minnesota, Metropolitan Opera and Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestras. Of particular meaning was his “Beethoven for Bosnia” benefit concert series in which he and violinist Geoffrey Michaels performed the complete Beethoven sonatas for piano and violin, raising funds to aid Bosnian student refugees of the war in the 1990s. Cacioppo’s music is well-represented on 20 compact discs, more than half of which are devoted exclusively to his work. His Ritornello with the Quartetto di Venezia (Navona) earned a Grammy® Award nomination and inclusion on the Fanfare’s year-end “must have” list. His pianism is represented on numerous discs, including Millennium Crossings featuring music by Joseph Hudson (Capstone), The Realm of Possibility in works by Mark Hagerty (Meyermedia) and Waldmusik by Christopher Shultis (forthcoming on Neuma Records). Cacioppo’s principal mentors were Leon Kirchner and George Rochberg. Ivan Tcherepnin was an important influence, along with jazz artists Bill Dobbins, Chuck Israels and Pat Pace. Gustave Reese guided his musicology thesis, and his interests in Native American music were encouraged by David McAllester. Cacioppo earned degrees from Harvard University (PhD, AM), New York University (AM) and Kent State University (B.Mus.). He taught for 41 years in the professoriate, first at Harvard, where he also served as Director of Undergraduate Studies in Music, and then at Haverford College, where he occupied the Ruth Marshall Magill endowed chair in music until his retirement from academia in mid-2020.