Mark Wessel (composer)

Mark Wessel (March 26, 1894 – May 9, 1973) was an American pianist and composer. Life Wessel was born in Coldwater, Michigan, and graduated from Northwestern School of Music, now known as Bienen School of Music; he later taught piano and theory there. When Wessel left Northwestern, he became a professor of piano and composition at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Wessel was a former pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. He was twice awarded Guggenheim Fellowships, in 1930 and 1932. He was also the recipient in 1930 of a Pulitzer Scholarship to further his education in Europe. In the 1938 contest of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society his choral-orchestral work The King of Babylon won honorable mention, while his former student David Van Vactor won the competition with his Symphony in D. He died on May 9, 1973, in Orchard Lake, Oakland County, Michigan. Selected compositions *Adagio, for orchestra *Allegro pomposo, for two pianos (pub. 1982) *The Amorous Peacock, for piano *Ballade, for solo violin, solo oboe, string orchestra (1931) *Ballade, for violin and piano (1937) *Concertino, for flute or violin and chamber orchestra (1928) *Concerto, for piano and orchestra (1941) *The D