Edward Smaldone

Biographical Information:

Edward Smaldone is Professor Emeritus of Music Theory and Composition at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, having joined the full-time faculty in 1989. He retired from full-time teaching in 2024.  He was also the Director of the School and Chairman of the faculty from 2002 – 2016.

During his tenure as Director, the School of Music nearly doubled its enrollment, developed 4 new Certificate programs in Performance, launched 3 Master of Music Degrees, instituted private lessons for all Music Major undergraduates, oversaw the hiring of 13 Music faculty, supervised installation of “smart room ” technology, launched a digital Recording Certificate (MAP Program), developed and expanded the first online courses in Music, developed new techniques for the inclusion of Google Classroom in Theory and Ear Training classes, developed international Exchange agreements with the China Conservatory, the Perugia Conservatory and the Danish Royal Academy of Music, established (and taught) regular Study Abroad Programs (Smaldone led seven  different Study Abroad Summer Courses in England and Italy), oversaw the purchase and acquisition of $.5 million in new pianos throughout the Music building, supervised two self-studies, including the School of Music’s application for membership to NASM (the National Association of Schools of Music) and increased Endowment accounts for Music Scholarships from $2.5 million to nearly $6 million. He remains active in Development for the School of Music.

Prof. Smaldone is a graduate of Queens College (BA ’78, MA ’80) and holds a Ph.D in composition from the City University of New York Graduate Center (1986). His composition teachers include George Perle, Ralph Shapey, Henry Weinberg and Hugo Weisgall. He also studied Music Theory, Analysis and Music History with Sigmund Levarie, Carl Schachter, Charles Burkhart, Saul Novack, Henry Burnett, Joel Lester, Edward Lerner, and Barry Brook.

In 2016 he was honored by the Copland School of Music with the John Castellini Award, given each year to a distinguished Alum.  He was also named the 2016 “Composer of the Year” by the Classical Recording Foundation at their annual Gala at National Sawdust, in Williamsburg and in 2017 he received the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from the CUNY Graduate Center.

Other awards include the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as grants and awards from ASCAP, the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo Corporation, the Charles Ives Center for the Arts, the Percussive Arts Society, and the American Music Center.

His music has been performed and/or recorded by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Munich Radio Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic, Idaho State Civic Symphony, Denver Chamber Orchestra, Memphis Symphony, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Oberlin New Music Ensemble, The New York Virtuoso Singers, the Florilegeum Choir, League/ISCM Chamber Players, Peabody Camerata, Stony Brook “Premieres!” Ensemble, Oratorio Sinfonica Japan, the EOS Orchestra of Beijing, China, the Chicago Composers Orchestra, and many other soloists and ensembles in the United States, Canada, China, Japan and Europe (his music has been performed in England, Denmark, Serbia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland, Croatia, the Netherlands, Scotland, and the Czech Republic). An active composer for the dance, Prof. Smaldone has arranged music by and attributed to Pergolesi which has had over 100 worldwide performances by Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project. The Pergolesi piece was featured in the 80th Year Celebration of Twyla Tharp at the NY City Center in 2021. Other collaborations have been with the Hartford Ballet and dancer-choreographer Yin Mei.

Smaldone’s compositions have been recorded on the CRI, New World, Naxos, Capstone, New Focus, Sera and Ablaze labels. His 2013 composition “The Beauty of Innuendo” was performed by orchestras in Japan, Chicago, New York, the Czech Republic and China. He is the co-author (with Perry Goldstein) of the 5th, 6th and 7th editions of “A New Approach to Sight Singing,” W.W. Norton. His most recent CD includes a second piano concerto, “Prendendo Fuoco” recorded by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra with Niklas Sivelöv, piano and Mikal Toms conductor.

He is a member of the Board of Directors for the League of Composers/ISCM, the American Composers Alliance, and the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards. He is also a member of the Long Island Composers Alliance and the Composers Collective.

Office: Music Building 313

Email: edward.smaldone@qc.cuny.edu

External links:

www.edwardsmaldone.com

https://composers.com/collections/edward-smaldone

https://www.theccollective.org/composers/smaldone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Smaldone

Reviews of Edward Smaldone’s music:

“Smaldone has a gift for connecting one phrase with another, even one note with another, so that you get wrapped up in the music… [he] makes the listener’s ear understand the music as it is happening.”

“a listener feels the appeal of a secure traditional idiom in a fresh new guise.”

“This is a remarkably varied disc, and one that repays multiple visits.  Smaldone’s voice is individual and confident.”  Fanfare (Feb. 2021)

 “Edward Smaldone’s work The beauty of Innuendo …is reminiscent of both Sibelius and Douglas Lilburn, with its brilliant brass, high wind writing, and cells of notes that gradually build into a longer phrase. Very pleasurable and committed performances.” (Geoff Pearce, Music and Vision, Australia, 2016)

“The earliest works here exhibit a fetching take on East Coast style dissonance. Music from the 1990s…a certain personal take on Americana…. a carefully considered, clearly expressed motivic tautness. This often intriguing release is worth a listen.”

David Cleary, The New Music Connoisseur, (2003)

  “…a fluent blend of jazz, American populism, New York intensity, overt Romanticism. …creating a synthesis that is harmonious and yet diverse, backed up by very impressive technique.”

Robert Carl, Fanfare, (2001)

 “I am definitely rushing out to find the music for Edward Smaldone’s piano pieces “Scenes from the Heartland,” part of the CD of the same name devoted entirely to Smaldone’s music. Like his Rhapsody for piano, the Scenes represent a rich combination of free atonality, Mahlerian lushness, and jazz.”

Jennifer Undercofler, The NewMusicBox.org, (2000)

 “The most cogent work here is Edward Smaldone’s Transformational Etudes, written in 1990, a richly flavored and beautifully crafted set of six short impressions. 

Peter Burwasser, Fanfare (1993)