Biographical Note
Composer Mario Davidovsky rose to prominence in the late 1950s for his works that combined new means of electronic music composition with traditional techniques and acoustic instruments, notably in his Synchronisms series. He is recognized for serving as director of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center during the period when electronic music was at the forefront of the contemporary music landscape. Davidovsky was noted for occupying a particularly influential role as a teacher, especially in his long-time faculty appointments at Columbia and Harvard universities and in his tenure as the director of the celebrated Composers Conference, the summer institute for composers and performers that was located at Wellesley College for most of his association with the organization. He was dedicated to aiding composers through many means, embracing his roles as frequent jurist and as a member of several arts organizations and music foundation boards, particularly the Fromm Music Foundation and the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1934 March 4 | Born in Médanos, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina |
| circa 1941 | Began private music studies at age seven |
| 1950-1957 | Studied at Collegium Musicum under Guillermo Graetzer |
| 1952 | Graduted from Colegio Bartolomé Mitre in Buenos Aires |
| 1953 | Entered Facultad de Derecho at Buenos Aires University |
| 1955 | Won first prize in the Wagnerian Association Competitions for his String Quartet no. 1 |
| 1957 | Won first prize in the Amigos de la Música Competition of Buenos Aires for his Little Concerto |
| 1958 | Studied under Aaron Copland and Milton Babbitt at the Berkshire Music Center (now Tanglewood Music Center) Received the Koussevitsky Foundation Fellowship at Berkshire Music Center Received the Williams Foundation Fellowship in Buenos Aires |
| 1959 | Won first prize in the Broadcast Music Awards for his String Quartet no. 2 |
| 1960 | Joined the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center Received the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship |
| 1961 November 19 | Married Elaine Blaustein |
| 1961 | Received the Guggenehim Foundation Fellowship |
| 1962 | Received first Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship |
| 1963 | Received second Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship |
| 1964 | Library of Congress Koussevitzky Foundation commission for Synchronisms no. 7 (completed 1974) |
| 1964 | Fromm Music Foundation commission for Synchronisms no. 2 |
| 1965 September 8 | Son Matias born |
| 1965 | Received National Institute of Arts Award |
| 1966 | Received Brandeis University Creative Arts Award |
| 1967 | Fromm Music Foundation commission for Inflexions |
| 1968 | Received Aaron Copland Award at Tanglewood |
| 1968-1978 | Professor of Music, City University of New York |
| 1968-2019 | Head of Composers Conference |
| 1969 January 20 | Daughter Adriana born |
| 1971 | Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Synchronisms no. 6 |
| 1972 | Received the Naumberg Award |
| 1974 June 26 | Became a naturalized citizen of the United States |
| 1974 | Became Director of Composers Conference |
| 1981 | Library of Congress Koussevitzky Foundation commission for Divertimento (completed 1984) |
| 1981-1993 | Edward MacDowell Professor of Composition, Columbia University |
| 1982-1994 | Director of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center |
| 1982 | Elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters |
| 1983-2019 | Served on the Koussevitzky Foundation Board |
| 1994 January 4 | Joined the faculty at Harvard University as Fanny Peabody Mason Professor of Music |
| 1994 | Received the SEAMUS National Award |
| 1997 July | Awarded the Kaske Prize, Munich, Germany |
| 2004 | Retired from Harvard University |
| 2011 | Library of Congress Dina Koston and Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music commission for Ladino Songs |
| 2019 August 23 | Died in New York City |