Laura Clayton (born December 8, 1943) is an American pianist and composer. She was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and studied at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and at Columbia University, New York, with Mario Davidovsky. She began studying composition with Darius Milhaud at the Aspen Music School and graduated with a Master of Music in Composition from the New England Conservatory in Boston. She lived for a while in Brazil and then continued her studies at the University of Michigan, graduating with a Doctorate of Musical Arts.[1][2]

After completing her education, she worked as a composer. In 1980, her work was chosen to represent the United States at the International Rostrum of Composers.[3]

Her compositional style has been describes as rhythmically complex with a ‘highly refined sense of mystery’, inspired by images of nature. Cree Songs for the Newborn, based on creole poems, was chosen to represent the USA at the 1980 UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris.[4]

Honors and awards

Works

Chamber Music

Orchestral Music

Tape

References

  1. ^ Cummings, David M. (2000). International who's who in music and musicians' directory.
  2. ^ Sadie, Julie Anne; Samuel, Rhian (1994). The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393034875. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Lifetime Fellow: Laura Clayton". Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Libby, Cynthia Green (2005). "Clayton, Laura". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.2019997. Retrieved January 28, 2023.


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