Robert Cornman

US pianist (1924-2008) Born in Brooklyn, New York, RC began his studies in music at the age of four, with his father, learned the rudiments of theory and piano at the David Mannes School of Music, and entered the Curtis Institute of Music, from which he was graduated at the age of seventeen (Piano: D. Saperton; Harmony: R. Longy; Form and Analysis: R. Stöhr; Counterpoint and Orchestration: R. Scalero). From 1942-1945 he was a member of the armed forces. He fought on the Western Front (infantry). After the War, he completed his conducting studies in Tanglewood, with Bernstein and Koussewitzky. He is engaged in a triple career, as composer, conductor and pianist. He has been musical director and conductor of several ballet troupes (K. Dunham, M. Béjart...). He has appeared as guest conductor of the Orchestre Lamoureux, the Orchestre des Concerts du Conservatoire, the RAI of Milan, the Haïfa Symphony, Kol Israel, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre de Radio Monte Carlo ...). Since his début as pianist in New York (1946) he has continually appeared in recital and with orchestra ( New York, Paris, the French provinces, Geneva, Brussels, Göteborg...). He has made more than forty commercial recordings (DECCA, CHARLIN, CHANT DU MONDE, VEGA...) both as conductor and pianist. From adolescence onward, composition had become the focal point of his endeavors. He keeps abreast of all the tricks of the trade, but pays no tribute to any particular coterie, clique, cult or school. His catalogue contains, as of now, some sixty titles, comprising symphonic and vocal music, chamber music, works for solo instruments, and theatre and ballet scores. RC was completely bi-lingual in English and French, reads and speaks Italian and German. He is a citizen both of the United States and France . He has lived successively in New York, Philadelphia, Israel, Paris, Geneva, and the East Coast of the United States .