Hilary Tann
November 2nd, 1947 - February 8th, 2023
Welsh-born composer whose imaginative catalogue was shaped by her formative years in Wales, her adoptive home in America, and her cultural affinity with Japan.
Welsh-born composer, Hilary Tann, lived in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York where she was the John Howard Payne Professor of Music Emerita at Union College, Schenectady.
Her compositions have been widely performed and recorded by ensembles such as the European Women's Orchestra, Tenebrae, Lontano, Marsyas Trio, Thai Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Composer-residencies include the 2011 Eastman School of Music Women in Music Festival, 2013 Women Composers Festival of Hartford, and 2015 Welsh Music Center.
"Tann's music is shimmering and weightless, effective and moving... it reinforces the grounded spiritual ecstasy that is Tann's distinctive musical outlook."
Praised for its lyricism and formal balance, her music is influenced by a strong identification with the natural world. She was a published haiku poet, and a deep interest in the traditional music of Japan led to private study of the shakuhachi and guest visits to Japan, Korea, and China.
Critical Acclaim
"Beautiful, lyrical work"
"Music of great integrity, impeccable craft, and genuine expressive ambition"
"Her way of using space in her compositions is uncanny; even at a pause, one realizes that this pause is not there for effect, that it means something, and so one waits patiently for the music to resume. And one is never disappointed."
"In the formal balance of this music, there is great beauty..."
In Memoriam
Hilary Tann, my close friend and collaborator who has died unexpectedly aged 75, was a prolific composer whose imaginative catalogue was shaped by her formative years in Wales, her adoptive home in America, and her cultural affinity with Japan...
Read Full Obituary by Dr. Rhian Davies