David Noon

He was a distinguished member of the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music for 30 years.

• Birthplace — Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. • Born — 23 July 1946 • Occupation — contemporary classical composer and educator • Education — * New York University • Yale University

David Noon was born on 23 July 1946 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He is of Pennsylvania Dutch, Welsh, and American Indian heritage. His formal musical education began at the age of 8 when he learned to play the clarinet. Subsequently, he took bassoon, flute, piccolo, and piano lessons. Throughout his childhood, he frequently performed in choirs, bands, orchestras, and chamber music ensembles. During his collegiate years at Pomona College, he continued to sing and play bassoon and piano. He also began the systematic study of composition. Following his undergraduate education, he attended New York University to study Medieval music with Gustave Reese. After receiving an MA in musicology at NYU, he attended Yale University, where he received an MMA and a DMA in composition. In 1972–73, he was a Fulbright Fellow in composition at the Music Conservatory in Warsaw, Poland. From 1973 to 1976, Noon taught music theory and composition and supervised the advanced ear-training program at the School of Music at Northwestern University. In 1976, he was composer-in-residence at the Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. From 1996 to 1998, Noon was Composer Artist-in-Residence at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine. A prolific composer, Noon has written 232 works, including chamber music, orchestral works, and choral compositions. He has written 11 string quartets, 3 piano concertos, the opera R.S.V.P., and many works featuring percussion. He has also written 2 books of poetry: Postcards from Rethymno and Bitter Rain; 3 historical novels: The Tin Box, Googie's, and My Name Was Saul; and 3 Nadia Boulanger mysteries, Murder at the Ballets Russes, The Tsar's Daughter, and The Organ Symphony. He was on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music in New York City from 1981 to 2011, where he was chairman of the Music History Department (1981-2007), chairman of the Composition Department (1989–98), and dean of academics (1998-2006). In 2007–08, Noon was a visiting professor of musicology and composition at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, China. Noon resides in New York City and on the Greek island of Crete.

• Manhattan School of Music Presidential Medal of Honor (2006) • ASCAP Standard Awards in Composition (yearly since 1973 to the present) • YMF Debut Award in Composition (1973) • Yale University's Harriet Gibbs Fox Memorial Prize (1972) • Yale University's Jon Day Jackson Prize (1972) • Yale University's Woods Chandler Memorial Prize (1971) • Composers' Forum, New York City (1971) • Aspen Music Festival prizes in composition (1969, 71, 79) • YMF career grants in composition (1968, 71) • BMI Awards to Student Composers (1967, 70)

• Chamber Music America (1993) • Pomona College Centennial commission (1987) • Houston Symphony Orchestra commission (1981) • NEA commissions (1977) • Wurlitzer Foundation of Taos, New Mexico, composer-in-residence (1976–77) • Berkshire Music Center Fellowship in Composition at Tanglewood (1974) • Yale University's Lucy G. Moses Scholarship (1971) • Yale University's David Stanley Smith Memorial Scholarship (1971) • Yale University scholarship in music (1970) • Aspen Music Festival scholarships in composition (1969, 71, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81) • NDEA Title-IV fellowship in music at New York University (1968–70)