Biographical Note
American composer and professor Robert Parris (1924-1999) was born and raised in Philadelphia. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, earning a degree in Music Education before studying at the Juilliard School of Music with Peter Mennin and William Bergsma. He also studied under Otto Luening and spent two years at Tanglewood with Jacques Ibert and Aaron Copland from 1950 to 1951. Parris later concluded that the teachings of these composers did not significantly influence the direction of his own work. In 1952, he completed a year of study with Arthur Honegger in Paris on a Fulbright scholarship. After a temporary stint teaching at Washington State College, Parris moved to Washington, D.C., in 1953. He taught briefly at the University of Maryland and worked as a contributing music critic for the Washington Post and Washington Star until 1975. In 1963, he joined the faculty at George Washington University and remained a professor of music there until his death.
Parris was known as a music colorist, and the majority of his compositions focused heavily on small ensembles and solo instruments. He gained international recognition in 1958 with the premiere of his Concerto for Five Kettledrums and Orchestra by the National Symphony Orchestra and timpanist Fred Begun. He received additional commissions from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Contemporary Music Forum. Parris continued to compose solo and ensemble works until his death in 1999, with the American Composers Alliance publishing more than sixty of his titles.