Ursula Mamlok, German-born American composer, Died at 93

  Music

Ursula Mamlok was born on February 1, 1923, in Berlin, Germany and died on May 4, 2016.

She was a German-born American composer and teacher.

She had a Jewish family and studied piano and composition with Professor Gustav Ernest and Emily Weissgerber until her family fled Nazi Germany following the nationwide pogrom in 1938.

The family then moved to Guayaquil, Ecuador for a short time, then immigrating to New York City in 1941.

She became an American citizen in the year 1945.

When she arrived in New York Mamlok went on with her musical studies under the direction of George Szell at the Mannes School of Music, where she studied for four years. She then received a bachelor’s and master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Vittorio Giannini.

Her other teachers include Roger Sessions and Ralph Shapey in composition and Eduard Steuermann, one of the foremost piano pedagogues at the time, in performance.

Hindemith was one of her earliest influences, Mamlok credits the works of serial composers, including Schoenberg, Berg and Webern, as having the greatest impact on her compositional style.

Ursula Mamlok passed away at 93 yrs old.