David Del Tredici

1937 - 2023

David Del Tredici
March 16, 1937 - November 18, 2023
David Del Tredici, concert pianist and Pulitzer Prize-winning classical composer, died at home in Greenwich Village, New York City, on November 18, 2023, aged 86. He died from complications of Parkinson's Disease.
David was born in Cloverdale, Calif., on March 16, 1937, and raised in San Anselmo, Calif. His mother, Helen remembered that before David could speak, he could hum a song after only hearing it a few times.
He attended St. Anselm Grammar School where his life was forever changed by a music teacher, Sister Mary Engracia. In 1949, when David was 12, she called his parents and asked them to provide David with piano lessons, and eventually a piano, because every day after school David would ask if he could sit at the school piano and play it. She could see he had some natural talent.
David was recognized as a "late" child prodigy and gave many concerts in Marin County and San Francisco. After wearing out his first piano with 4-6 hours of practicing every day, the family bought a gently used parlor grand piano from the Sands family in Ross, Calif.
In 1953, David began advanced piano lessons with Bernhard Abramovitch. David graduated from Marin Catholic High School in 1955. In that same year he won the prestigious Kimber Award for piano performance. At age 20 David played with the San Francisco Pops Symphony under conductor Arthur Fiedler and was a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony at the War Memorial Opera House, playing Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op 25. The Marin Independent Journal music critic Dorothy Simpers praised his "enormous forcefulness which seems limited only by the piano itself … He enjoys a bravura for which simply nothing is too difficult."
David won music scholarships to the University of CA, Berkeley. As a sophomore, David attended the Aspen Musical Festival and, in a composition seminar with composer Darius Milhaud, Mr. Milhaud said to David after he played his first composition, "My boy, you are a composer!"
David graduated from UC Berkeley in 1959, Phi Beta Kappa. He attended Princeton, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1964. That same year, David met composer Aaron Copland at Tanglewood. Mr. Copland liked David's work and became a mentor and friend for the rest of his life. "Del Tredici," said Mr. Copland, "is that rare find among composers…a creator with a truly original gift. I venture to say that his music is certain to make a lasting impression on the American musical scene. I know of no other composer of his generation…who composes music of greater freshness and daring, or with more personality."
David was commissioned for works for nearly every major American and European orchestral ensemble, including Michael Tilson Thomas and Leonard Bernstein.
David is known for his composition "Final Alice," commissioned in honor of the US Bicentennial in 1976 with participation and funding by the National Endowment for the Arts and performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra.
In 1980, David's composition, "In Memory of a Summer Day," won the Pulitzer Prize in Music.
David taught on the faculties of Harvard (1968–72) Boston University (1973–84), Manhattan School of Music (1991–93), The Juilliard School (1993–96), and as Distinguished Professor of Music at the City University of New York (1984–2015.)
David was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Helen Del Tredici; and brother, Richard Del Tredici. David is survived by his sister, Ann Del Tredici (Vincent Saba) of Kentfield and El Sobrante, Calif.; brothers, Robert Del Tredici of Montreal, Peter Del Tredici (the late Susan Klaw) of Watertown, Mass.; sister-in-law, Judy Del Tredici; he was uncle to Felix, Lisa Loundagin, Michelle, Aaron, Sonya, Luke.