Alvin Etler

After early success as a composer, Alvin Etler entered the University of Illinois and continued studying composition with Arthur Shepherd at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (1931-36). In 1938 he joined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra as an oboist. Two seasons later he travelled extensively in Latin America as an oboist and composer with the North American Wind Quintet. During this period he also received two Guggenheim Fellowships (1940 and 1941) and at the request of Fritz Reiner composed two symphoniettas (now withdrawn) for performance with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. These successes led him to abandon a career as an oboist in favour of composing and teaching.He went to Yale University (1942-46) as instructor of wind instruments and conductor of the University Band, and studied composition with Hindemith (1942-44). He then taught at Cornell University (1946-47) and at the University of Illinois (1947-49) before being appointed professor at Smith College, Northampton, in 1949. In 1968 he was named Henry Dike Sleeper Professor of Music, and in 1972 Andrew Mellon Professor of Humanities. He is the author of Making Music: an Introduction to Theory (1974).