Dominick Argento

Dominick Argento, considered to be America's pre-eminent composer of lyric opera, was born in York, Pennsylvania in 1927. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Peabody Conservatory and his Ph.D. from the Eastman School of Music. Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships allowed him to study in Italy and following his Fulbright, Argento became music director of Hilltop Opera in Baltimore, and taught theory and composition at the Eastman School. In 1958, he joined the faculty of the Department of Music at the University of Minnesota, where he taught until 1997. He now holds the rank of Professor Emeritus.

During his years at Eastman, Argento composed his opera, The Boor (1957), of which John Rockwell of The New York Times stated: "(it) taps deep currents of sentiment and passion." Following his arrival in Minnesota, the Argento accepted commissions from the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis.

Since the early 1970's Argento's operas have been heard with increasing frequency abroad. Among these are The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe (1976), Dream of Valentino (1993), and Casanova's Homecoming (1984) which Robert Jacobson of Opera News described as "a masterpiece."

Dominick Argento has received the Pulitzer Prize for Music, given in 1975 for his song cycle From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1979, and in 1997 was honored with the title of Composer Laureate to the Minnesota Orchestra, a lifetime appointment.