Cushing, Charles, 1905-

Biography

Charles C. Cushing (b. Oakland, Calif., Dec. 8, 1905; d. Berkeley, Calif., April 14, 1982) professor and composer. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley (BA, MA) and won the Paris Prize Fellowship (1929), which took him to the Ecole Normale de Musique for composition lessons with Nadia Boulanger; he also studied violin, viola, clarinet, and piano. He taught at Berkeley (1931-68, professor 1948), where he conducted the University of California Concert Band (1934-52). His music is lyrical and makes use of impressionist harmonies; notable among his works is Carmen Saeculare, which was performed under his direction at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. He translated the texts of Milhaud's Les Malheurs d'Orphée and Satie's Socrate, and he contributed articles to Modern Music. In 1952 he was admitted to the Légion d'honneur. Biographical sketch taken from The New Grove Dictionary of American Music.