Composer Barbara Kolb has Died, Aged 85

Kolb was the first American woman to win the Rome Prize

American composer Barbara Kolb was born in Connecticut in 1939 and went on to study composition with Arnold Franchetti at the Hartt College of Music, as well as continuing her work on the clarinet. She further studied with Lukas Foss and Gunther Schuller at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, MA, and spent a year in Vienna on a Fulbright scholarship.

Kolb's career took off in 1969 when she was awarded the prestigious Rome Prize. Major opportunities followed, such as the opportunity to have her work Soundings premiered by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, which was later performed by Pierre Boulez and the New York Philharmonic.

During the next years, Kolb received commissions from the Koussevitzky Foundation, the New York State Council for the Arts, the Washington Performing Arts Society, and the Fromm Foundation — as well as grants from the Institute of Arts and Letters and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Following a stint as artistic director of the "Music New to New York" concert series at the Third Street Music School Settlement, Kolb spent time in residence at IRCAM in Paris, where she was commissioned to compose Millefoglie for chamber ensemble and tape. Its premiere was led by Péter Eötvös, and the work received numerous repeat performances around the world — as well as the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award.

Other notable works include Umbrian Colors for violin and guitar, All In Good Time for orchestra, and the piano concerto Voyants.

Kolb was also a pedagogue and taught at the Eastman School of Music. During the 1980s, she developed a music theory course for the blind at the Library of Congress.

You can hear a recording of Kolb's work Soundings below.

Our condolences to Ms. Kolb's family, friends, and colleagues.