John Duffy (composer)

John Duffy (June 23, 1926 – December 22, 2015) was an American composer who created more than 300 works from symphonic music and operas to music for the concert hall, theatre, and film and television. In 1974 he founded the organization Meet The Composer under the auspices of the New York State Council on the Arts and the American Music Center. The organization helped to create platforms for contemporary composers to discuss new works with audiences; notably coordinating summer festivals of contemporary music for the New York Philharmonic and helping to fund composer-in-residence programs with 32 symphony orchestras throughout the United States among many other successful projects. Biography Born in Manhattan, Duffy was one of fourteen children born to his Irish immigrant parents, Thomas Duffy and Anna Quirk. Raised in Woodlawn, Bronx, he enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II and fought in the Battle of Okinawa. After the war he studied music composition at The New School with Henry Cowell and Solomon Rosowsky, and with Aaron Copland at the Tanglewood Music Center. Soon after completing his studies, he became music director of the Antioch Shakespeare Festival which