Ursula Mamlok
1923 - 2016
American
Summary
Ursula Mamlok was born in Berlin in 1923, where she began her musical education at an early age. Persecuted by the Nazis because of their Jewish descent, her family left Berlin and emigrated to Ecuador in 1939. That same year, Urusla was offered a scholarship by the Mannes School of Music and moved to New York. She studied composition with Roger Sessions, Stefan Wolpe and finally with his pupil Ralph Shapey, who had a particularly large influence on her compositional style. Her works are characterized by complex, often juxtaposed rhythms.
Biography
Ursula Mamlok was born in Berlin in 1923, where she began her musical education at an early age. Persecuted by the Nazis because of their Jewish descent, her family left Berlin and emigrated to Ecuador in 1939. That same year, Urusla was offered a scholarship by the Mannes School of Music and moved to New York. She studied composition with Roger Sessions, Stefan Wolpe and finally with his pupil Ralph Shapey, who had a particularly large influence on her compositional style. Her works are characterized by complex, often juxtaposed rhythms.
She taught composition at New York University, Temple University, and Manhattan School of Music. Her catalog includes about 75 works, both solo pieces and compositions for a wide variety of chamber music ensembles as well as works for orchestra. She has received numerous awards, including 2013, the Federal Cross of Merit first class. In 2006 returned to her native Berlin, where she died on May 4, 2016 at the age of 93 years.