William kraft biography

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BIOGRAPHY

Distinguished composer, musician, educator, and inspiration, William Kraft was born in Chicago, IL on September 6, and grew up in San Diego, CA.

After serving in the United States Air Force for three years, Kraft was awarded two Anton SeidI Fellowships at Columbia University, graduating with a bachelor's degree cum laude in , and a master's degree in composition in  He received his training in percussion from Morris Goldenberg and in timpani from Saul Goodman, and studied conducting with Rudolph Thomas and Fritz Zweig.

After spending a year with the Dallas Symphony, Kraft moved to Los Angeles and became a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in , first as a section percussionist, then as Principal Timpanist.  

During his early years in Los Angeles, Kraft organized and directed the Los Angeles Percussion Ensemble, a group that played a vital part in premieres and recordings of works by such renowned composers as Ginastera, Harrison, Krenek, Stravinsky, and Varèse. Kraft served as Stravinsky's timpanist and percussionist in charge of all percussion activities for the composer's Los Angeles performances and recordings. As a percussion soloist, he performed in the American premieres of Stockhausen's Zyklus and Boulez' Le Marteau sans maître, in addi

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William Kraft

American composer, conductor, teacher, and percussionist (–)

William Kraft (September 6, – February 12, ) was an American composer, conductor, teacher, timpanist, and percussionist.

Biography

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Early life and education (–)

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Kraft was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was awarded two Anton Seidl Fellowships at Columbia University, graduating with a bachelor's degree cum laude in and a master's degree in He studied composition with Jack Beeson and Henry Cowell, orchestration with Henry Brant, percussion with Morris Goldenberg, timpani from Saul Goodman, and conducting with Rudolph Thomas and Fritz Zweig.

While in New York City, Kraft worked as a freelance musician and was an extra percussionist at the Metropolitan Opera. In , Kraft joined the Dallas Symphony. After one season, he accepted a position as percussionist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.^[1]

At the Los Angeles Philharmonic (–)

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Kraft began as a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's percussion section, before being promoted to the orchestra's principal timpanist. From to , he also served as the orchestra's assistant conductor, under then music director Zubin Mehta.^[2] From to , Kraft was Composer-in-Residence for the orchestra; during that period he fo