Gunther Schuller, born November 22, 1925, is an American composer. His name is synonymous with contemporary classical music. He was a student at Saint Thomas Choir School, where he became a skilled horn player. At the age of 17, he was the principal hornist for the Cincinnati Symphony. Two years later, he took over a similar role with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He gave up performing in 1959 to concentrate on composition. He has performed internationally as a conductor and studied jazz with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and John Lewis. To describe music that blends jazz and classical techniques, he invented the term “third stream”. Schuller has over 160 original compositions. Schuller was the president of New England Conservatory in the 1960s. Schuller created NEC’s jazz program, which is today one of the most respected jazz centers in the country. Schuller is the editor-in-chief at Jazz Masterworks Editions and co-director for Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Washington, D.C. A recent preservation effort was his editing and posthumous premiere at Lincoln Center in 1989 Charles Mingus’ enormous final work, Epitaph, which was later released by Columbia/Sony Records. You can also access user-contributed text under the Creative Commons By–SA License.
