George Crumb died on February 6th at the age of 92 at his residence. Bridge Records, his record company, confirmed the news in a tweet, saying:
Grammy and Pulitzer award winning composer George Crumb (1929-2022) passed away on February 6, 2022, at age 92, at his Media, PA home. His wife Elizabeth and sons David and Peter were at his side. Dr. Crumb was preceded in death by his daughter Ann Crumb.
— Bridge Records, Inc. (@BridgeRecords) February 6, 2022
George Crumb Bio
George Crumb was born on October 24, 1929, to a clarinetist and bandleader father and a cellist mother. He began creating music when he was ten years old. Crumb attended the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, in 1974, and then majored in music at Mason College of Music and Fine Arts, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1950. He earned his M.Mus. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1952 and his D.M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1959.
Career
George began his career as a teacher at a Virginia college. Later, in 1958, he became a professor of piano and composition at the University of Colorado, and in 1958, he began a long affiliation with the University of Pennsylvania, becoming Annenberg Professor of the Humanities in 1983. In 1995, he received the Edward MacDowell Medal, and in 1997, he resigned from teaching. In 2002, he was assigned to a dual residency at Arizona State University alongside David Burge, where he continued to compose.
The Charleston, West Virginia native received multiple honors, including a Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1968 for his symphonic piece Echoes of Time and the River and a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition in 2000 for his work, Star-Child.
Fans pay tribute on Twitter
George Crumb’s method of writing music was the main reason he was so well-liked. Fans and other well-known people were saddened to learn of his death and expressed their sorrow on Twitter:
R.I.P. George Crumb, 24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022.@NotationIsGreat pic.twitter.com/u5pM8ryIEA
— Henry Gough-Cooper (@henrywgc) February 6, 2022
RIP George Crumb. Your music brought me to a new place when I arrived in a new place at 18. West Virginia’s son has come home. pic.twitter.com/pgjCbkx07f
— Dr. Amy McGlothlin (@amcglothlin) February 7, 2022
