# Sol Berkowitz > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sol_Berkowitz > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sol_Berkowitz.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Berkowitz > Source revision: 1352516844 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American composer and music educator}} '''Sol Berkowitz''' (27 April 1922 – 29 July 2006) was an American [composer](/source/composer) and [music educator](/source/Music_education).{{cite news |title=Berkowitz, Sol |newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |date=31 July 2006 }} ==Life== Sol Berkowitz was born in [Warren, Ohio](/source/Warren%2C_Ohio), and lived in New York from 1925. He received music degrees from [Queens College (CUNY)](/source/Queens_College%2C_City_University_of_New_York) in 1942 and [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) in 1946. He studied piano with [Abby Whiteside](/source/Abby_Whiteside) and [composition](/source/Music_composition) with [Karol Rathaus](/source/Karol_Rathaus), [Harold Morris](/source/Harold_Morris_(composer)) and [Otto Luening](/source/Otto_Luening).{{cite news |title=Sol Berkowitz, Gifted Professor, Song Writer and Composer Dies |url=http://queenscourier.com/2006/sol-berkowitz-gifted-professor-song-writer-and-composer-dies-17870/ |newspaper=The Queens Courier |date=17 August 2006 |access-date=4 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201102759/http://queenscourier.com/2006/sol-berkowitz-gifted-professor-song-writer-and-composer-dies-17870/ |archive-date=1 February 2013 }} Berkowitz was a professor at [Aaron Copland School of Music](/source/Aaron_Copland_School_of_Music) at Queens College from 1946 until 1999, with a brief hiatus (1961–1967) to pursue a career as a theatre, film and television composer. Known as a teacher of [music theory](/source/music_theory), [orchestration](/source/orchestration), [ear training](/source/ear_training) and musicianship, Berkowitz wrote the music textbooks ''A New Approach to Sight Singing'' and ''Improvisation through Keyboard Harmony''. Berkowitz composed musicals, ballets, orchestral works, chamber music, and hundreds of choral works and songs. His musical score ''Nowhere to Go But Up!'' was produced on [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) in 1962. Among Berkowitz's students are jazz pianist [Mal Waldron](/source/Mal_Waldron), jazz guitarist [Billy Bauer](/source/Billy_Bauer), musicologist [Lewis Lockwood](/source/Lewis_Lockwood) and composer [Bright Sheng](/source/Bright_Sheng). ==Selected works== ;Stage * ''Fat Tuesday'', Opera (1956) * ''Miss Emily Adam'', [Off-Broadway](/source/Off-Broadway) Musical (1960) * ''Nowhere to Go But Up!'', [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) Musical (1962); book and lyrics by [James Lipton](/source/James_Lipton) ;Orchestral * ''Diversion'' (1972) * ''Dance Suite'' for string orchestra ;Band * ''Game of Dance'' (1956) * ''Paradigm'', Jazz Adventure in [Sonata Allegro Form](/source/Sonata_form) (1969) * ''Suite of Miniatures'' (1977) ;Chamber music * ''10 Duets for Treble Instruments'' (1971) * ''Introduction and Scherzo: Blues and Dance'' for viola and piano (1974) * ''Suite for Winds'' for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn (1975) * ''Dialogue'' for cello and piano (1980) ;Piano * Sonata (1941) * ''Duo concertante'' for 2 pianos (1942) * ''9 Folk Song Preludes'' (1972) * ''12 Easy Blues'' (1974) * ''4 Blues for Lefty'' (1976) * ''Five for Four'' for piano 4-hands (1977) * ''Jazzettes'', 17 Pieces in Classic Jazz Style (1988) ;Choral * ''Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel'' for mixed chorus a cappella (1955) * ''Without Words'', Suite for mixed chorus a cappella (1963) * ''The Mad Lover'', 5 Sad and Humorous Songs in Jazz Rock for mixed chorus a cappella (1970); words by [Alexander Brome](/source/Alexander_Brome) * ''Add a Riff'' for mixed chorus with optional accompaniment (1974) * ''Two Letters from Lincoln'' for mixed chorus and piano (1974) * ''Two Letters from Jefferson'' for mixed chorus and piano (1975) * ''Antidisestablishmentarianism'' for mixed chorus a cappella (1975) * ''Some Guides to Dining according to George Washington'' for mixed chorus and piano (1978) * ''Don't Ask Me'' and ''I Had a Little Pup'', 2 Traditional American Rhymes for two-part chorus of young voices and piano (1979) * ''Father William'' for two-part chorus of young voices with piano accompaniment (1979); words by [Lewis Carroll](/source/Lewis_Carroll) * ''Daniel'', Spiritual Paraphrase for mixed chorus and piano (1981) * ''The Bop Fugue'' for two-part chorus with keyboard accompaniment (1981) * ''The Cuckoo Bird'' for two-part chorus and piano (1982) * ''Passacaglia in Blue'', Theme and 14 Variations for mixed chorus and piano (1982) * ''Comparisons'' for two-part chorus and piano (1982) * ''Me and Animals'' for two-part chorus and piano (1982) * ''Swingin' in Five'' for two-part mixed chorus and piano (1984) * ''Swingin' with Solfège'' for two-part mixed chorus and piano (1984) * ''Latin Rock'' for three-part chorus and piano (1985) ;Educational * ''A New Approach to Sight Singing'' ([W. W. Norton & Company](/source/W._W._Norton_%26_Company), 1960) * ''Improvisation through Keyboard Harmony'' ([Prentice Hall](/source/Prentice_Hall), 1975) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{IBDB name}} *{{iobdb name|28577}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkowitz, Sol}} Category:1922 births Category:2006 deaths Category:20th-century American composers Category:20th-century American male composers Category:Jewish American classical composers Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American male musical theatre composers Category:American music educators Category:Queens College, City University of New York faculty Category:Queens College, City University of New York alumni Category:Columbia University alumni Category:People from Warren, Ohio Category:20th-century American Jews Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Composers from Ohio --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sol Berkowitz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Berkowitz) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Berkowitz?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.