composers biography : Y - Yz
 



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NameBornDiedInformation
Yagling, Victoria
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14 May 1946
Russia
 composer who studied cello with Rostropovich. She is now based in Finland
Yakymenko, Fedir
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1876
Ukraine
1945
Paris, France
an early student of Lysenko, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Scriabin, Yakymenko was forced to emigrate to France in the 1920s. There, he would be influenced by the French 'impressionist' composers
Yakushenko, Igor
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15 Apr. 1932
Moscow, Russia
 a composer who has written for jazz band, symphony orchestra, opera, ballet and rock ensemble
Yamada, Kosaku (Kôsçak)9 JUn. 1886
Tokyo, Japan
29 Dec. 1965
Tokyo, Japan
Japanese composer
Yamada, Kengyo
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1757
Japan
1817
Japan
Japanese composer who established the Yamada School of Koto music in Tokyo basing his style on the vocal compositions of Edo or old Tokyo
Yamaguchi, Yasuko1969
Kyoto, Japan
 Japanese composer and percussionist
Yamash'ta, Stomu
actually: Yamashita, Tsutomo
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15 Mar. 1947
Japan
 virtuoso percussionist and composer of works for percussion
Yamashita, Yosuke
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26 Feb. 1942
Tokyo, Japan
 Japanese free jazz pianist and composer
Yanada, Tadashi
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1885
Japan
1959
Japan
Japanese composer particularly of kakyoku, classical Japanese songs
Yancey, Jimmy
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20 Feb. 1898
Chicago, USA
17 Sep. 1951
Chicago, USA
jazz pianist, composer and lyricist
Yang, Bao Zhi20th century
China
 Chinese composer
Yang, Yong
1949
Beijing, China
 the earliest musical influence on him came from the Peking Opera, folk songs and the folk story tales in northern China. Yang Yong received a Ph.D. in composition from Brandeis University and is a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music
[birth date supplied by Casey Mongoven]
Yaniewicz, Feliks (see Janiewicz (Yaniewicz), Feliks)   
Yannatos, James13 Mar. 1929
New York, USA
 American composer
Yannatou, Savina
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Athens, Greece Greek singer and song writer
Yano, Marco Aurélio
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1963
São Paulo, Brazil
1991severely handicapped from birth, Yano was quadriplegic and endured many difficulties related to his condition. In spite of his physical limitations, Marco finished his university studies with a major in conducting and composition from the State University of São Paulo (UNESP)
Yanov-Yanovsky, Felix
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28 May 1934
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
 Uzbek violinist and composer of mostly orchestral, chamber, choral and vocal works
Yanov-Yanovsky, Dmitri
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Apr. 1963
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
 son of Felix, Uzbek composer of mostly stage, orchestral, chamber, vocal and electroacoustic works
Yared, Gabriel
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7 Oct. 1949
Beirut, Lebanon
 composer now based in the United States, he won an Oscar for his acclaimed score for the adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning novel The English Patient in 1996. His scores since then include City of Angels and Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley
Yarnell, Carolyn
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1961
Los Angeles, CA, USA
 American pianist and composer whose music straddles the borders of minimalism, romanticism and the baroque
Yarrow, Peter
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31 May 1938
USA
 American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. It was Yarrow who wrote that group's most famous song, Puff the Magic Dragon
Yashiro, Akio
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1929
Tokyo, Japan
9 Apr. 1976
Tokyo, Japan
little-known in Europe, Yashiro was a French-trained perfectionist, a pupil of Boulanger and Messiaen, who completed only a handful of concert works. The Symphony (1958) and Piano Concerto (1967) show high craftsmanship, fastidious instrumental colouring, and the extraordinary freedom with which Yashiro absorbed elements of Messiaen's writing
Yasuda, Fumio
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1953
Tokyo, Japan
 pianist and composer
Yates, W.
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fl. 1764 writer of songs for the Vauxhall Gardens, London
Yatsuhashi, Kengyo
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c.1613
Japan
1685
Japan
Yatsuhashi is considered by some to be the founder of koto music as it is known today. The term Kengyo is a title and rank which was bestowed on blind musicians of great talent
Yazdjian, Haig
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1959
Aleppo, Syria
 Syrian born oud player, singer and composer who lives in Greece
Ycart, Bernhardsecond half 15th century Flemish musician, possibly a composer
Yedidia, Ronn
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1960
Tel Aviv, Israel
 Israeli accordionist, pianist and composer
Yengibarjan, David1976
Yerevan, Armenia
 composer and accordionists who has been living in Hungary since 1995. He has participated in a great number of theatrical and film productions both as a performer (Bertolt Brecht: Jungle of the Cities, Andor Lukáts: Portugal, Joye Sergent: Crime and Punishment) and as a composer (Ferenc Molnár: Liliom, András Szoke: Three, György Farkas: Blood Line, András Fésos: Street Heart Beat)
Yeoh, Nikki
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1973
London, England
 jazz pianist and composer
Yepes, Narciso
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14 Nov. 1927
Lorca, Spain
3 May 1997
Santander, Spain
virtuoso guitarist who designed created the ten-string guitar and composed film music
Yerkanyan, Yervand
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5 Nov. 1951
Gyumri, Armenia
 a composer who combines the influences of Pierre Boulez, the Polish avantgarde and mediaeval Armenian music
Yevseyev (or Evsejew, Yevseyev), Sergey (or Sergei) Vasilyevich25 Jan. 1894
Moscow, Russia
16 Mar. 1956
Moscow, Russia
Russian theorist, pianist and composer
Yi, Chen (see Chen, Yi)  &nbps;
Yi, Steven
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1978
Korea
 Korean composer now based in Brooklyn, NY, USA
Yi, Zong-gu1947
Korea
 Korean composer who contributed Parting Ships to the closing ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Olympics
Yin, Cheng-Zong
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1948
China
 Chinese pianist and composer who is particularly noted for collaborating with Liu Zhuang, Chu Wang-Hua and Sheng Lihong to write the piano concerto Yellow River (1971)
Yinon, Israel
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11 Jan 1956
Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv, Israel
29 Jan 2015
Lucerne, Switzerland
composer and conductor based in Germany
Yiu, Raymond
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1973
Hong Kong
 composer and jazz pianist who now lives in London
Yli-Salomäki, Aki
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28 Jun. 1972
Finland
 studied privately with Jouni Kaipainen 1994 and Juhani Nuorvala 1997. He studied composition and orchestration at the Helsinki University with Harri Vuori (1998-1999) and privately (2000-2002)
Yokota, Susumu
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late 20th century
Japan
 leading Japanese techno composer who began his international career at Berlin's Love Parade in 1993
Yon, Pietro Alessandro
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8 Aug. 1886
Settimo Vittone, Italy
22 Nov. 1943
Huntington, NY, USA
at 18, assistant organist at St. Peter's, Rome who settled in New York from 1907 and was a composer mainly of music for organ
Yonge, Nicholas
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c.1560
Lewes, Sussex, England
bur. 23 Oct. 1619
London, England
English singer and publisher. He is most famous for publishing the Musica transalpina (1588), a collection of Italian madrigals with their words translated into English. This proved to be explosively popular, beginning (or fueling) a vogue for madrigal composing and singing in England which lasted into the first two decades of the 17th century. Indeed, William Heather, founder of the music chair at Oxford University, included the book in his portrait, painted c.1627, confirming the longevity of Musica transalpina's influence and popularity
York, Andrew
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1958
Virginia, USA
 American guitarist and composer, member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
York, Francis Lodowick18611955American organist and teacher who lived and worked in Detroit from about 1875. He was the organist of Christ Church in Detroit from 1896. He taught piano, organ and compostion at the Detroit Conservatory of Music and at the Ypsilanti State Normal College. He published A Practical Introduction To Composition, Harmony Simplified in 1926, but his only published organ composition was a Spring Song (Canon) which appeared in 1907
Yorke, Peter
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4 Dec. 1902
London, England
2 Feb. 1966
England
conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, arranger and composer
Yoshihide, Otomo
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1 Aug. 1959
Yokohama, Japan
 improvisational guitarist, turntablist and composer
Yoshimatsu, Takashi
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1953
Tokyo
 studied at Keio University (Department of Technology). He taught himself composition, joining a jazz and rock group, although he has also studied with Teizo Matsumura
Yoshizawa, Kengyo
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1800
Japan
1872
Japan
in the latter years of the Edo Period, a Nagoya musician, Yoshizawa Kengyo created another song style with direct ties to the older kumiuta style. Yoshizawa used waka poetry taken from ancient anthologies as song texts and created a new tuning based on both in and yo scales. This tuning was called kokinjoshi, the name borrowed from the ancient Japanese poetry anthology Kokin Waka Shu
Yossifov, Alexander12 Aug. 1940
Sofia
 Bulgarian composer
Yost (or Jost), Michel
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c. 1754
Switzerland
1786
Paris, France
Swiss-born clarinetist who spent his playing life in Paris, France. He and his clarinet concertos became immensely popular
Yossifov, Dragomir
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11 Jun. 1966
Varna, Bulgaria
 Bulgarian composer and conductor
Youdin, Mikhail29 Sep. 1893
St. Peterburg, Russia
8 Feb. 1948
Kazan
Russian-born composer
Youll, Henry
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end of 16th centuryearly 17th centurywriter of canzonets and balletts
Youmans, Vincent
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1898
New York City, NY, USA
5 Apr. 1946
Denver, Colorado
American popular composer and Broadway producer. The two hit songs written by Youmans from No, No, Nanette, Tea for Two and I Want to Be Happy are considered standards
Young, Anthony
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Australia Australian conductor and composer
Young, Anthonyc. 1685
England
1747
London, England
English organist and composer. It has been suggested that he might have been the composer of God Save the King, the United Kingdom's National Anthem
Young, Christopher
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28 Apr. 1957
Red Bank, NJ, USA
 American film music composer
Young, Gordon
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15 Oct. 1919
McPherson, Kansas
 American organist and composer
Young, John
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1962
Christchurch, New Zealand
 composer and teacher based in England. His main interest in composition continues to be in acousmatic music, particularly forms based on the distinction between recognisable natural sound sources and computer-based studio transformations
Young, La Monte
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14 Oct. 1935
Bern, Idaho, USA
 pupil of Stockhausen, many of his works incorporating non-musical elements. He is normally listed as one of the 'big four' minimalist composers along with Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Terry Riley
Young, Larry (né Larry John McCoy)
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7 Oct. 1940
Newark, NJ, USA
30 Mar. 1978
USA
if Jimmy Smith was the Charlie Parker of the organ, Larry Young was its John Coltrane. Larry Young was a fabulous Hammond organist who had a career with Blue Note, but who really came into his own when he moved into the world of 'fusion' with the Tony Williams Lifetime, on John McLaughlin's classic Devotion album and on Santana and McLaughlin's Love, Devotion and Surrender
Young, Lester Willis (Prez)
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27 Aug. 1909
Woodville, Miss., USA
15 Mar. 1959
New York City, NY, USA
American jazz musician, composer and tenor saxophonist. Singer Billie Holiday called Lester Young “the president of tenor saxophonists,” and the nickname Prez (or Pres) stuck. In his solos of the 1930s he reinvented the art of playing the saxophone and opened new doors to improvisation. He was a developer of the jazz genre, bebop
Young, Miriama
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1975
Christchurch, New Zealand
 instrumental and electronic music composer
Young, Percy Marshall17 May 1912
Northwich, Cheshire
9 May 2004
York, England
music scholar, editor, organist, composer and teacher; Director of Music, Stranmillis Teacher Training College, Belfast 1934-37; Musical Adviser, Stoke-on Trent Local Education Authority 1937-44; Director of Music, Wolverhampton College of Technology 1944-66; Honorary Fellow, Selwyn College, Cambridge 1998-2004. Throughout his career, Young was prolific as a composer, though the demands on his time often relegated it to a secondary activity. Essentially a miniaturist, choral motets, solo songs and chamber music dominate his early period. These include Virgin's Slumber Song (1932) and a fine setting of Robert Louis Stevenson's cycle of poems, From A Child's Garden which dates from 1941. Works on a larger canvas range from the 1931 Passacaglia for Violin and Piano through to the Fugal Concerto in G Minor for Two Pianos and String Orchestra some 20 years later. Particularly fine is an Elegy For String Orchestra commissioned for the 1960 Zwickau Festival in Germany
Young, Victor
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1900
Chicago, USA
1956
Hollywood, CA, USA
American violinist, band leader and composer of film music scores
Young, Williamunknown1671/2
England
held a position in the court of Archduke of Austria in Innsbruck (1653); flute player and then violinist in the band of Charles II; anticipated the style of Henry Purcell; wrote sonatas for 2 to 4 violins, viola da gamba and keyboard (there appear to have been at least two William Youngs, both England and both string players)
Youssef, Dhafer
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1967
Teboulba, Tunisia
 composer, singer and oud player who has worked in Vienna, Austria since 1990
Yradier (or Iradier), Sebastián
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1809
Vitoria, Spain
1865
Spain
composer of popular songs including La Paloma; the Habanera in Bizet's Carmen is based on a song by Yradier
Ysaÿe, Eugène(-Auguste)
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16 Jul. 1858
Liege, Belgium
12 May 1931
Brussels, Belgium
virtuoso violinist pupil of Wieniawski and Vieuxtemps; orchestral conductor; composer of 6 concertos for violin and an opera in Walloon (a Belgian dialect of French)
Ysaÿe, Théophile1865
Verviers, Belgium
1918
Nice, France
pianist, brother of the above; composed orchestral music
Yu-Chung, Tseng1960
Taiwan
 completed his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of North Texas (1998) in USA. His music, written for both acoustic and electronic media, has been recognized with awards from the R.O.C National Culture Planning Council, University of North Texas, and Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (Honourable Mention Award 1998, 1999). His works have also received many performances at festivals and conferences from organizations including Korean EA Music Society (SICMF 2002, 2003), Taiwanese Computer Music Association (TCMA 99, 2000), International Computer Music Association (ICMC 98, 99, 2001, 2003), Society for Electroacoustic Music in United States (Net Concert 1997, SEAMUS 1998), Texas Computer Musician's Network (TCMN 96, 97, 98). He is a member of ICMA, and a funding member of TCMA. Currently, he is a full-time assistant professor of music at National Taipei Teachers College in Taiwan
Yuasa, Joji
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12 Aug. 1929
Koriyama, Japan
 Yuasa made the acquaintance of Toru Takemitsu (composer), Kuniharu Akiyama (musicologist) and others while a pre-medical student at Keio University in Tokyo. He joined them in forming the `Jikken-kobo' (Experimental Workshop) in 1952, and turned to devote himself to music. Since then, Yuasa has been actively engaged in a wide range of musical composition, including orchestral, choral and chamber music, music for theatre, and intermedia, electronic and computer music
Yudin, Mikail Aleksandrovich1893
St. Petersburg, Russia
 Russian composer
Yudo, Luiz Henrique
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1962
Brazil
 studied architecture at the University of Sao Paulo. In 1985 he had had composition lessons with the Brazilian composer Damiano Cozzella at the University of Sao Paulo University, but is mostly self-taught. After visiting Amsterdam for the first time in 1986 he went on to study at the Nederlandse Film & Televisie Academie
Yuferov (or Youferoff, Juferow), Sergei W.1865
Odessa, Ukraine
 Ukrainian composer active in 1906 in Switzerland
Yulchieva, Munadjat
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1960
nr. Andijan, Ukbekistan
 one of the most popular performers in the Fergana- Tashkent style (four maqams). This school differs from the Bukharan style, it is strongly linked to the Uzbek language (as opposed to Tajik) and is sometimes referred to as 'free maqam'. For such a celebrity, Munadjat has taken an unconventional route to success. She was born in a small village near Andijan, and worked the feilds with the rest of her family. The story goes that she applied to the Higher Conservatoire of Music, vocal arts department, not realising that they trained opera singers. She was turned down for singing 'out of tune' but was heard from outside the door of the audition room by one of Uzbekistan's most famous composers, Shavkat Mirzaev
Yun, Isang
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17 Sep. 1917
Tongyong, South Korea
3 Nov. 1995
Berlin, Germany
trained in Paris and Berlin, a pupil of Blächer; composer of operas, orchestral and chamber works
Yupanqui, Atahualpa (né Hector Roberto Chavero)
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22 Jan. 1908
Pergamino, Argentina
23 May 1992
Paris, France
Argentine singer, songwriter, guitarist and writer regarded as the greatest interpreter of Argentinean folklore
Yurina, Ludmilla
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16 Jan. 1962
Uzin, Ukraine
 graduating from Kiev Music College in 1981 (piano) and from Kiev State P. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1990 (composition), she completed her postgraduate studies at the Kiev State P. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1998 (class of composition of professor E. Stankovich (1998)
Yurovsky, Vladimir Mikhailovich1915
Tarastcha, Uzbekistan
 Uzbeck composer
Yuste, Miguel18701947Spanish clarinetist and composer
Yusupova, Iraida
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20 Feb. 1962
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
 graduating from Moscow State Conservatory as a composer in 1987, she is a member of the Composers' Union of Russia (Moscow organization) and the Filmmakers' Union of Russia, member of the Association of Contemporary Music (ACM) and has been a member of the Theremin Centre since 1994
Yusupov, Benjamin
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22 Nov. 1962
Dushanbe, Tajikistan
 Tajik-born Israeli composer
Yusupov, Nikolay Borisovich1827
St. Petersburg, Russia
31 Jul.-3 Aug. Baden-Baden, GermanyRussian violinist, composer and writer on music
Yuyama, Akira
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1932
Japan
 Japanese composer
Yvain, Maurice
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12 Feb. 1891
Paris, France
28 Jul.
Suresnes, France
French operetta composer