David Froom is an American composer and college professor. His music has been described as “intensely dramatic yet deeply formal,” "intellectually engaging, explosive with imagination and with a satisfying visceral power," balancing “diatonic pastoralism with acerbic angularity, Stravinskian rhythmic urgency with lyrical counterpoint.” Among his most critically acclaimed works are "Circling," Sonata for Solo Violin, 2nd Piano Trio, and Amichai Songs. Among his most frequently performed music is his saxophone music, which includes a saxophone quartet, "Flying High" for solo alto saxophone, "Turn of Events" for alto saxophone and piano, "Arirang Variations" for alto saxophone, bassoon, and piano, and "Before the Dawn" for alto saxophone and piano. He has also arranged his flute/clarinet duet, "Circling" for two saxophones. These, and all of his works, are published by the American Composers Alliance. Froom has taught at the University of Utah, the Peabody Institute and the University of Maryland, College Park. He has been on the faculty at St. Mary's College of Maryland since 1989. He has received awards and honors from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, (the Charles Ives Scholarship, the Academy Award), the Fromm Foundation at Harvard, the Koussevitzky Foundation of the Library of Congress, the Barlow Foundation, and is a five-time recipient of an Individual Artist Award from the State of Maryland.
Froom was born in 1951 in California. After playing rock music in a band with guitarist Gary Pihl and his brother Mitchell Froom, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. As a graduate student, he studied under William Kraft, Humphrey Searle and Robert Linn at the University of Southern California, earning a Master of Music Composition degree in 1978. In 1984, he earned a D.M.A. degree in Composition from the Columbia University, where he studied with Mario Davidovsky and Chou Wen-chung. He studied also with Alexander Goehr at Cambridge University on a Fulbright grant.
Froom has written music for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, and orchestra, with and without voice. His compositions have been widely performed throughout the United States and Canada, as well as England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Cyprus, China, New Zealand, and Australia.
Froom's work has, since 1991, appeared regularly on the concerts of the 21st Century Consort, the new music group-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution. They have premiered and recorded many of his works.
Froom's awards include the following:
Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year (Music Teachers National Association)Academy Award, American Academy of Arts and LettersFromm Foundation at Harvard CommissionBarlow Foundation at Brigham Young University CommissionGuggenheim Foundation FellowshipMaryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award (five times)Koussevitzky Foundation Commission from the Library of CongressNational Endowment for the Arts Composition FellowshipKennedy Center Friedheim Awards First PrizeComposition Fellow to the Composers Conference at WellesleyFulbright-Hays Program Grant for study at Cambridge (England)Charles E. Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and LettersAmichai Songs for baritone with orchestraStriking Silver for orchestraDown to a Sunless Sea: a Rhapsody for string orchestraCanzoni di Notte for clarinet and string orchestraPetali di Gelsomino for flute and string orchestraSerenade for trumpet and stringsSongs of a Summer Evening for violin, viola and orchestraBefore the Dawn for alto saxophone and pianoNightsongs for clarinet and pianoTurn of Events for saxophone and pianoLightscapes for flute and pianoCircling for flute and clarinet (also arranged for two saxophones)Piano Trio No. 1Piano Trio No. 2 BordersSaxophone QuartetArirang Variations for alto saxophone, bassoon, pianoTrio for Clarinet, Cello, PianoFantasy Dances for fl, cl, perc, pno, vn, va, vcKick Off! for brass septetQuintet for oboe, strings and pianoChamber Concerto for fl, cl, vn, vc, pno and percQuartet for piano and stringsString Quartet"Ribbons" for solo flute"Shades of Red" for solo violin, or viola, or celloSonata for solo violinFlying High for solo alto saxophonePiano SuiteTo Dance to the Whistling Wind for solo fluteSonata for pianoElegy for viola soloAmichai Songs for baritone with orchestraTwo Yeats Songs for soprano and violinColors passing through us for mez sop, cl, vc, pnoThree Love Songs for mezzo-soprano and pianoAmichai Songs for bar with fl, cl, hn, pno, vn, va, vcEmerson Songs for sop with fl, ob, cl, bn, pno, vn, va, vcQuartet for Piano and Strings, Down to a Sunless Sea, Piano Sonata (Centaur Records CRC 2103).Serenade for trumpet and strings, Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony with Jeff Silberschlag, trumpet (Naxos 8.559719).Chamber Concerto (New York New Music Ensemble), String Quartet (Ciompi String Quartet), Quintet for Oboe, Strings and Piano (Twentieth Century Consort), Piano Suite (Eliza Garth). To Dance to the Whistling Wind (Jayn Rosenfeld) (Arabesque Recordings Z6710)“Kick Off!” for brass septet (Sonora Recordings SO22591CD)Piano Trio, Opus 3 Trio (Opus 3 Recordings)Saxophone Quartet, West Point Saxophone Quartet (Altissimo Recordings 75442259912)Saxophone Quartet, Aurelia Quartet (New Dynamic Records 700261228655)Saxophone Quartet, Quatour Nota Bene (Fidelio Recordings AD001)Piano Trio #2: “Grenzen,” Haydn Trio Eisenstadt (Capriccio Records CAP71095)Arirang Variations, Kenneth Tse, Benjamin Coehlo, Alan Huckleberry (Crystal Records CD358)Amichai Songs, Fantasy Dances, Circling, Emerson Songs, Clarinet Trio, 21st Century Consort (Bridge Records 9240)Sonata for Violin Solo, Curtis Macomber (Navonna Records NV5830)Articles by David Froom
David Froom, "The Emerging Generation," keynote article in Contemporary Music Review, Volume 10, Part 1.David Froom, “Looking Back, Looking Forward,” and “Composed in Southern Maryland,” River Gazette, volume 10, no. 3, Fall 2010David Froom, “Classical Music to Unite a Community” New Music Box, July 20, 2011
