Charles L. Bestor
{{Short description|American composer}}
{{primary sources|date=March 2010}}
Charles Lemon Bestor (December 21, 1924, New York City – January 16, 2016, Amherst, Massachusetts) was an American composer of contemporary classical music, professor, and administrator.
Early life
Charles Lemon Bestor was born on December 21, 1924, in New York City. He studied with Paul Hindemith at Yale University. He later studied with Vincent Persichetti and Peter Mennin at the Juilliard School, and independently with Vladimir Ussachevsky. He holds degrees from Swarthmore College (Phi Beta Kappa), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Career
He taught at the Juilliard School and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He also served as an administrator at Willamette University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Utah, and University of Alabama. He finally served as a professor at the University of Massachusetts.
Bestor's compositions have drawn on 12-tone music and jazz. Recordings of his music have been released on the Capstone, Centaur, New Ariel, Living Artist, MSR Classics, Orion, SCI, and Serenus labels.
The Charles L. Bestor Collection is held by the American Music Research Center at the University of Colorado.
Death
Bestor died in his sleep January 16, 2016, at his home in Amherst, Massachusetts.[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gazettenet/obituary.aspx?n=Charles-Bestor&pid=177410917 Charles Bestor (1924 - 2016) Obituary]
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110607060742/http://people.umass.edu/bestor/index.html Charles L. Bestor page]
- http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gazettenet/obituary.aspx?n=Charles-Bestor&pid=177410917
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bestor, Charles L.}}
Category:20th-century American classical composers
Category:21st-century American classical composers
Category:American male classical composers
Category:Juilliard School alumni
Category:Juilliard School faculty
Category:Yale School of Music alumni
Category:Composers from New York City
Category:Swarthmore College alumni
Category:University of Colorado Boulder alumni
Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty
Category:Willamette University people
Category:University of Utah faculty
Category:University of Alabama people
Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni
Category:Pupils of Paul Hindemith
Category:Classical musicians from New York (state)
Category:20th-century American male musicians
Category:21st-century American male musicians
{{US-composer-20thC-stub}}