Lee Hoiby

Lee Hoiby continued the neo-Romantic tradition of Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti (under whom he studied), forging an idiom that is both melodic and accessible. He studied piano under Gunnar Johansson and Egon Petri, originally planning to become a pianist, but Menotti invited him to study composition at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Early on, he recognized Hoiby's potential, manifested by his first opera The Scarf, performed at the opening of the 1957 Spoleto Festival. He followed this in 1959, with Beatrice, writing an oratorio, A Hymn of the Nativity, the next ...