Paul Fromm (philanthropist)
Paul Fromm(September 28, 1906 – July 4, 1987) was a JewishChicagowine merchant and performing arts patron through theFromm Music Foundation.[1]TheOrganum for Paul Frommwas composed byJohn Harbisonin his honor.[2]
Early life
[edit]Born inKitzingen,Germanyto a prominent family ofvintners,Fromm was an early supporter of contemporary classical music in that country after he was exposed toStravinsky'sRite of Springin the early 1920s. He attended concerts at theDonaueschingen Festivalfurther deepening his appreciation of the genre.[3]A Jew, he was forced to fleeNazi Germanyin 1938 and immigrated to theUnited Stateswhere he settled in Chicago where he co-founded a wine importing firm, the Geeting and Fromm Corporation in 1939 and then founded the Great Lakes Wine Company in 1943.[3]
Patronage
[edit]By 1952, his business was sufficiently well established to allow him to focus on establishing the Fromm Music Foundation,[4]which financially supporting young composers through grants awarded on the recommendation of its staff of musicians and experts. Fromm'sprotégésincludeBenjamin Lees,Ben WeberandElvin Epstein.[1]
A "Paul Fromm Concert" ofcontemporary classical musicis performed annually at the University of Chicago in his memory.[5]The Paul Fromm Award is given annually by theTanglewood Music Centerin his name. During the period 1984-89,Earle Brown,then president of the Fromm Music Foundation, recommended many American composers for commissions includingDaniel Asia,David Lang,William Susman,Henry BrantandSteve Reich.
Paul Fromm was married toUniversity of Chicagopsychology professor and writer Erika Fromm whom he met in Germany in 1936 and married in 1938 shortly beforeemigratingto the United States.[6]
Fromm's 1966 article "A Contemporary Role for American Music Libraries"[7]inspired the major compendium of Boston-area composers and compositions called the Boston Composers Project.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Rescuer of Necktie Salesmen,Time Magazine,July 23, 1956
- Paul Fromm, Classical-music Patron, is Dead,The New York Times,John Rockwell,July 6, 1987
- ^ab"Music: Rescuer of Necktie Salesmen".23 July 1956. Archived fromthe originalon December 14, 2008.Retrieved25 August2017– via www.time.com.
- ^"John Harbison - Organum for Paul Fromm (1981) - Music Sales Classical".www.schirmer.com.Retrieved25 August2017.
- ^ab[1]Archived2007-06-29 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Classical Music".www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org.Retrieved25 August2017.
- ^"Events".University of Chicago Magazine.February 1995.Retrieved25 August2017.
- ^"Fromm, challenged Freud, helped pioneer hypnosis".chronicle.uchicago.edu.Retrieved25 August2017.
- ^Fromm, Paul (1966)."A Contemporary Role for American Music Libraries".Perspectives of New Music.4(2): 141–142.
- ^The Boston composers project: a bibliography of contemporary music.Linda Solow Blotner, Mary Wallace Davidson, Brenda Chasen Goldman, Geraldine Ostrove, Boston Area Music Libraries. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 1983.ISBN0-262-02198-6.OCLC9576366.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
External links
[edit]- Fromm Music Foundation
- Interview with Paul Fromm,Bruce Duffie, April 9, 1986
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