Robert Linn (2)

American composer and music educator (born August 11, 1925 in San Francisco, CA – died October 28, 1999 in Los Angeles, CA) Linn was born in San Francisco in 1925. After attending Mills College to study with Darius Milhaud and Princeton University to study with Roger Sessions, Linn studied at USC with Halsey Stevens and Ingolf Dahl. He earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from USC in 1951 and 1952, respectively. He joined the USC faculty in 1957 and chaired the Thornton School’s theory and composition department from 1973 to 1990. Linn was a past president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for American Composers and Conductors. Linn’s published compositions include works for symphony orchestra, wind orchestra, chorus and chamber ensembles. His music has been performed on six continents. “Though his contributions to the repertoire were profound, Robert Linn’s music and manner were graced by a complete absence of pretense,” said Larry J. Livingston, dean of the Thornton School of Music. Linn’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 2 (1990), written for pianist and USC professor John Perry, was a semi finalist entry in the Kennedy Center’s Friedheim Awards Competition and a finalist in the National Orchestra Association New Music Project. His “Propagula” for wind orchestra (1970) has been performed by every major wind orchestra in this country. Linn’s compositions have been recorded on such labels as Orion, Crystal, TrueMedia and Golden Crest. These include: Concertino for Violin and Wind Octet, featuring violinist Eudice Shapiro; “Dithyramb” for eight cellos, performed by I Cellisti and commissioned by the American String Teachers Association in honor of Pablo Casals; “Vino” for violin and piano, interpreted by Harris Goldman and Carolyn Brown; and “Saxifrage Blue” for baritone saxophone and piano, commissioned and performed by Mark Watters. Linn’s Divertimento for Oboe, Two Horns and String Quintet, commissioned by the Southwest Chamber Music Society, premiered in 1996 and is included on a CD of works commissioned by the society. Linn composed the theme for the USC Master Plan fund-raising campaign as well as “Anthem of Wisdom,” commissioned by the Friends of Music, for the inauguration of President Norman Topping.