Tamara Brooks

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Tamara Brooks
Born11 September 1941
Died24 May 2012 (aged 70)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationConductor

Tamara Brooks (11 September 1941[1] – 19 May 2012) was an American choral conductor.[2][3][4]

Biography

Brooks studied at the

Juilliard School of Music, where she received degrees in piano (studying under Eduard Steuermann) and in conducting. She went on to have an extremely varied career, of which choral conducting was merely a part.[5]

Brooks conducted concerts in many countries throughout the world (

Tilson-Thomas.[6]

Brooks was a champion of contemporary music, commissioning and/or performing works by composers such as

Takemitsu, and Tippett.[6]

Prior to her arrival in

Grammy-nominated recording of choral works of Vincent Persichetti
, who was a mentor and close personal friend. At that time, she was also Director of the Bi-College Orchestra at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, where she met Dean David Potter (now retired from Syracuse), whom she later married. While at Bryn Mawr and Haverford, she served as mentor to Elizabeth Schulze, now the conductor of the Maryland Symphony.

Brooks was director of choral activities at

Boston Globe, surpassing the reception to the Boston Symphony Orchestra's performance of the Requiem that same year.[7] In addition to New England Conservatory, Brooks held numerous other important academic positions.[8]

In 1998, Hankus Netsky invited Brooks to take part in a PBS television program entitled Taste of Passover. It was there that she met Theodore Bikel. Ten years later she married Bikel,[9] with whom she toured the world in acclaimed concerts of folk music.[2]

Netsky wrote:

"Tamara was incredibly dynamic, charismatic, energetic, a vortex of passion, love, and talent. When she got excited about something, there was no stopping her. And she got excited about a lot of things. When that happened, she was 100% there and never imagined that her students or others might not be as excited about a project as she was."[2]

Brooks died suddenly of a heart attack in Houston[9] on 19 May 2012.[2]

References

  1. ^ bach-cantatas.com. "Tamara Brooks (Conductor)"
  2. ^ a b c d New England Conservatory of Music (21 May 2012)."Tamara Brooks, 1941--2012".Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  3. ^ Jewish Weekly (24 May 2012). "Tamara Brooks, choral conductor, wife of Theodore Bikel". Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  4. ISBN 1579997600
  5. ^ Conlon (2009) p. 344
  6. ^ a b c Lists of countries, conductors, and composers sourced from tamarabrooksconductor.com Archived 28 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  7. ^ Dyer, Richard (6 March 1992). "NEC's 'Requiem': A spiritual experience". Boston Globe. Retrieved 25 May 2012 (subscription required).
  8. ^ Conlon (2009) p. 347
  9. ^ a b Fein, Leonard. (22 May 2012), "Death of Tamara Brooks, 70, Robs Theodore Bikel of Treasured Companion". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
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