BACH, JAN  BIOGRAPHY

Jan Bach was born in Forrest, Illinois in 1937. He studied at the University of Illinois in Urbana where he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition. His composition teachers have included Roberto Gerhard, Aaron Copland, Kenneth Gaburo, Robert Kelly, and Thea Musgrave. From 1966 to 2002, he taught theory and composition courses at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

Bach has written for virtually every live medium of vocal and instrumental performance. His music has been recognized with numerous composition awards and grants since 1957 when, at the age of nineteen, he won the BMI Student Composers first prize. Other awards have included the Koussevitsky competition at Tanglewood, the Harvey Gaul composition contest, the Mannes College opera competition, the Sigma Alpha Iota choral composition award, first prize at the First International Brass Congress in Montreux, Switzerland, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council, the Brown University choral composition award, first prize in the Nebraska Sinfonia chamber orchestra competition, and first prize in the New York City Opera competition. His works have been recommended for a Pulitzer Prize in music six times.

His publishers include Associated, Carl Fischer, Galaxy, Boosey & Hawkes, Magnolia Music, and others. His recorded works include brass quintets (BIS-CD-544, BIS-CD-699). A complete list of compositions and recordings may be found on his website: http://www.janbach.net.