Schwartz, Charles, 1922-1998

Composer, author, musicologist, and music impresario, Charles Schwartz (1922-1998), was well-known as a presenter of new music and jazz in New York City venues, as well as a prolific author on popular music.

Schwartz received his undergraduate degree at Brooklyn College and a graduate degree from New York University before studying from 1945-1953 with several contemporary composers, including Aaron Copland and Roger Sessions. He completed his doctoral work in musicology at NYU in 1969, after which he taught at Queens College (1967-1971) and Hunter College (1972 onward). In addition to his academic career, he also lectured publicly and took part in panel discussions on American musical theater, jazz and contemporary music. Schwartz also freelanced as an orchestrator and trumpeter. From 1957 until the mid-1990s, he produced concert series under the titles Composers' Showcase and Jazz Profiles (both eventually under the former title), presenting concerts of new music and jazz at the Whitney Museum, Circle In The Square, the Museum Of Modern Art, and Lincoln Center. Schwartz also researched and published books about George Gershwin and Cole Porter. He continuously composed his own music, including symphonies, string quartets, popular song, works for wind and percussion, and chamber pieces. He also wrote, performed, and recorded several "jazz symphonies" and other smaller works combining elements of jazz and classical music and featuring such jazz artists as Clark Terry, Cab Calloway, Sonny Fortune, Freddie Hubbard and Jon Hendricks. These pieces included Professor Jive, Solo Brothers, Riding High and Mother, Mother. As a composer, Schwartz won many honors, including ASCAP awards in 1978 for Professor Jive and in 1979 for Mother, Mother. He was a Fellow of the MacDowell Colony in 1968.

...