TRITONE PRESS &
TENUTO PUBLICATIONS
publishing American Music since 1961 - now including GEMINI PRESS



JOHN DIERCKS  

JOHN DIERCKS was born in New Jersey in 1927 and received music degrees from Oberlin College (B.M.), the Eastman School of Music (M.M.), and the University of Rochester (Ph.D).  His composition teachers included Bernard Rogers, Howard Hanson, and Alan Hovhaness. Diercks also studied Asian music and dance at the University of Hawaii, studying with Dorothy Kahanui and Halla Huhm.

Dr. Diercks taught piano at the College of Wooster from 1950 to 1954, and in 1954 began a long tenure at Hollins College in Virginia where he taught composition and theory and was department Chairman from 1962 until 1990. Diercks also served as music critic for the Roanoke Times for over 20 years. He has received awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon and Danforth Foundation, and ASCAP.  He has enjoyed residence at the MacDowell Colony, Well Trap Farm, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Much of John Diercks’ music is influenced by exoticism, including microtonality and unconventional sounds.  His CAVE MUSIC for 3 players on Prepared Piano and Flute accompanied a dance performed in Virginia's Dixie Caverns and broadcast on NBC-TV’s Today Show. His TWELVE SONATINAS performed by pianist Marthanne Verbit are in the catalog of Albany Records.

The composer is married to Thelma Chock Diercks, head of Acquisitions (Monographs) of the University of Hawaii - Manoa Library.


Available from TENUTO PUBLICATIONS
(Order from your favorite music retailer, or follow the link below to buy direct from Presser.)

494-00065 FANTASY for Horn & Piano ... $14.95
494-00159 FIGURES ON CHINA for Horn, Trombone, and Tuba ... $14.95
494-00109 VARIATIONS ON A THEME OF GOTTSCHALK for Tuba & Piano ... $14.95


last updated April 14, 2020
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