About Perry Goldstein

Perry Goldstein (born 1952 in New York City, New York) studied at the University of Illinois, UCLA, and Columbia University, from which he received a doctorate in music composition in 1986. His principal composition teachers were Herbert Brün, Chou Wen-Chung, Mario Davidovsky, Ben Johnston, and Paul Zonn.

Recent works in “Quintet for Cello and String Quartet,” composed for Stony Brook faculty cellist Colin Carr; …shreds and patches…, for Stony Brook faculty, pianist Gilbert Kalish; rough places plain, for Branford Marsalis and the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet; and Everyday Pleasures for the Duo Montagnard.

One of the most widely-performed composers of music for saxophone, Goldstein’s recent works for the instrument include Mischief (2011) and Angelus Novus (2011) for saxophone quartet; Kaleidoscope (2009) for alto saxophone, clarinet, bassoon, and piano; Flex (2007) for saxophone quartet; and Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet (2006). Other pieces include Arrested Lightening: Eleven Paul Klee Impressions (2010), for clarinet, violin, and piano and Late Night Thoughts from the V.A. (2008), for baritone, horn, and piano. Should This Be Found: Six Songs on Scott’s Last Expedition (2004) and The Abundant Air: Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Band (2003) were composed for the United States Military Academy Band at West Point. Other works include Motherless Child Variations (2002) for the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet; (W)eeeeee! (2001) for Juilliard Quartet cellist Joel Krosnick and pianist Gilbert Kalish; Against the Grain (1998), for the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet and Slagwerkgroep den Haag; and Fault Lines (1998), for alto saxophone and piano, for saxophonist Arno Bornkamp and pianist Ivo Janssen. Recordings include Michael Lowenstern’s rendering of Total Absorption (called “an I-dare-you contraption” by Fanfare Magazine), on New World Records; the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet’s recording of Blow! (declared a “vivacious firework” by the Aachener Zeitung and “a raw-boned tour-de-force” by the Buffalo News), on Vanguard Classics and Challenge Records; Motherless Child Variations (described as a work of “consummate structural and inventive artistry” by CD Spotlight), on New Dynamic Records; Lessons of the Master on Challenge Records; Noir (called a “complex and sometimes sensuous piece” by The American Record Guide), on Crystal Records, and The Abundant Air: Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Band, and Should This Be Found: Six Songs on Scott’s Final Expedition on United States Military Academy Recordings. His works appear on 19 compact discs, including Albany, Bridge, Challenge, Crystal, Innova, New World, U.S. Military Academy, and Vanguard Records, and he is published by Reed Music and Global Music Facilities.

Goldstein has been involved in a variety of activities in the service of contemporary music. In the 1970’s, he produced and hosted programs on contemporary music for NPR-affiliate WILL in Urbana, Illinois. He has written extensively for, among other publications and organizations, The New York Times, The Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, Strings Magazine, National Public Radio, Deutschlandfunk (German radio), the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, Speculum Musicae, the League-International Society for Contemporary Music, “Music Today” of the 92^nd Street “Y,” the San Antonio Symphony, and for the Arabesque, Bridge Challenge, CRI, GM, Folkways, New World, and Vanguard Classics recording labels. He has been a National Advisor to the League-ISCM and a music panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts. In 1992, he served as the United States delegate to the UNESCO-sponsored International Rostrum of Composers in Paris, subsequently producing four radio programs of the event for American Public Radio.

A dedicated educator, Goldstein received the “Teacher of the Year Award in the Arts and Humanities” in 1987 from Wilmington College of Ohio (where he served from 1987-1992), and a 1997 “Chancellor’s and President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching” from the State University of New York and Stony Brook University. He also received the 2006 “Student Life Award” for “student development and enhancement of campus life.” Since 1992, he has been a member of the music faculty of Stony Brook University, where he was the inaugural Director of the College of Arts, Culture, and Humanities (2003-2007), Undergraduate Studies Director (2000-2009), Graduate Program Director (2009-2012) and current Chair of the Department of Music.  In 2016, he was invited to join the SUNY Distinguished Academy with the title, “Distinguished Service Professor.”