Harold Farberman
Harold Farberman (November 2, 1929 – November 24, 2018) was an American conductor, composer and percussionist.
Harold Farberman
- Born
- Harold Farberman was born on 2 November 1929. · New York City.
- Died
- Harold Farberman died on 24 November 2018.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- composer · conductor · percussionist · musician
- Education
- Juilliard School · New England Conservatory
- Languages
- English
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Harold Farberman (November 2, 1929 – November 24, 2018) was an American conductor, composer and percussionist.
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Harold Farberman was a composer, conductor and musician, among other activities, of American nationality. The composer was born in New York City. Harold Farberman was educated at Juilliard School and New England Conservatory. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q1585812 · wikipedia · Harold Farberman
In this article
Biography
Biography
Farberman studied percussion at Juilliard, and composition at the New England Conservatory and at Tanglewood with Aaron Copland. In 1951, he joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as the youngest player ever to become a full-time member of the orchestra. Farberman's conducting positions included principal guest conductor of the Denver Symphony Orchestra in 1963, and music director and conductor of the Colorado Springs Orchestra from 1967 to 1970, and the Oakland Symphony Orchestra (later reorganized as the Oakland East Bay Symphony) from 1971 to 1979, where he gave a rare concert performance of Scott Joplin's folk opera Treemonisha. During Farberman's tenure with the Oakland Symphony, there were concerns about his work as music director, and his difficult relationship with the orchestra. When his contract was to be renewed in 1977, the Players' Committee expressed its profound dissatisfaction with his work and the majority voted that his contract should not be renewed, but the orchestra board decided to renew it against the musicians' wishes. He championed the work of Charles Ives, having recorded more of his works than any other conductor, including all four of his symphonies. He also recorded the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler and Michael Haydn with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, respectively. Farberman founded the International Conductors Guild in 1976, and was founder and director of the Conductors' Institute, a summer conducting program initiated at the Hartt School, and now located at Bard College. Marin Alsop, a graduate of this program, was one of his most notable students. Farberman was also the author of The Art of Conducting Technique. Farberman's compositions included three operas; many works for orchestra and chamber ensembles; the film score to the Academy Award–winning documentary, The Great American Cowboy; and music for dance companies.
Studio albums
Studio albums
• Year — Album details • 2003 — Irwin Bazelon: Junctures; Spirits of the Night; Sunday Silence; Concatenations * Release date: September 30, 2003 * Label: Albany Music Distribution
Orchestras conducted by Farberman
Orchestras conducted by Farberman
Listed alphabetically • BBC Symphony Orchestra • Bournemouth Sinfonietta • Danish Radio Orchestra • English Chamber Orchestra • Hessischer Rundfunk • Hong Kong Philharmonic • KBS Symphony Orchestra • London Symphony Orchestra • Melbourne Symphony Orchestra • Mozarteum Orchestra • Philharmonia • Radio Audizioni Italiane Orchestra • Royal Philharmonic • Seoul Philharmonic • Swedish Radio Orchestra • Stockholm Philharmonic • Sydney Symphony
Personal
Personal
• Farberman was an uncle of Emmy Award winning actress Lisa Kudrow.
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Harold Farberman was born at New York City.
Birthplace
New York City.
Birth place
Selected compositions
• Variations for Percussion With Piano (1954) – composed for the New York Percussion Trio • Evolution (1954) – scored for over one hundred percussion instruments and has been recorded four times, once by Leopold Stokowski. • Greek Scene (1957) – a trio for mezzo-soprano, piano, and percussion chosen to represent the United States in an International Composer's Symposium held in Paris. • Cello Concerto (2000) – premiered by the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. • Diamond Street (2009) – premiered at Hudson Opera House.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Harold Farberman”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1585812: Harold Farberman
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.DÉCÈS DU CHEF AMÉRICAIN HAROLD FARBERMAN
- 2.Eriksson, Erik. Biography: Harold Farberman. AMG.
- 3.Beene, Mitchell and Johnson, Autopsy of an Orchestra: an Analysis of the Factors Contributing to the Bankruptcy of the Oackland Symphony Orchestra. © 1988, 2012 Melanie Beene http://www.hewlett.org/uploads/documents/Autopsy_of_an_Orchestra.pdf
- 4.Cortelu.com. CORTELU MUSIC : Harold Farberman. 1929-11-02.
- 5.Conductingmasterclass.wordpress.com. A Workshop with Harold Farberman and Leon Botstein « All the conducting masterclasses. 4 February 2009.
- 6.Bard.edu. FACULTY - Harold Faberman. 1929-11-02.
- 7.Diamond Opera Theater.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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