B.Mus. in Piano, Chicago Musical College (1949)
M.Mus. in Piano, Chicago Musical College (1951)
Additional graduate study, Washington University
Fulbright Fellowship for piano study, Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Freiburg, Germany (1955-57)
Doctoral study in piano, Indiana University (1958-59)
Composition study, Fontainebleau, France (1962)

Principal teachers:
Nadia Boulanger, Max Wald (composition)
Rudolph Ganz, Carl Seemann (piano)
Willi Apel (musicology)

Faculty positions:
Webster College (1962-65)
Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey:
Chairman of Piano Department (1974-77)
Professor of Piano (1978-1993)

Guest lectures and master classes:
University of British Columbia (Vancouver)
Carnegie Recital Hall (New York)
Juilliard School of Music (New York)
University of Wisconsin (Madison)
many other venues

U.S. State Department tour of West Germany (1956)
Diploma Winner, International Piano Competition in Munich
Soloist with St. Louis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Baltimore Symphony
Solo recitals at Carnegie Recital Hall (New York) and many other venues
ASCAP Standard Awards in Composition (1974-1995)
Residencies at the MacDowell Colony

"So many people separate music and music-making from what life is all about and treat it as an 'untouchable' thing. But it's nothing more than the projection of the feelings of a human being. The responsibility of expressing these ideas to my students is a marvelous experience for me. If I can help them to see the total picture, they'll know that music isn't intangible. It's very real — as real as anything can be."

— Harold Zabrack

WORKS:

ORCHESTRA

Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra
listed: Albert De Vito, in preface to Creative Musical Encounters (1978), refers to a "recent commission by George Shearing and Clara Siegel for a Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra." [Does this piece exist?]

Four Sketches for Orchestra
date: ?

Piano Concert No.1
for: piano and orchestra (scoring?) (also two-piano reduction)
date: ?
note: commissioned by St. Louis Symphony. May also be known as St. Louis Piano Concerto.
premiere: St. Louis Symphony, Harold Zabrack, piano, James Paul, conductor, 1965
source: Goldie Levinson

Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra
for: (scoring?) (also two-piano reduction?)
date: 1977
premiere: Milwaukee Symphony, Harold Zabrack, piano, James Paul, conductor, 1977
source: Goldie Levinson

PIANO

Ballade for Piano
date: ?
premiere: Phyllis Lehrer, piano, Merkin Hall, New York 1987
listed: ASCAP database

Berceuse for Piano
date: ?
published: Yorktown Press (?)
listed: ASCAP database and 1984 letter from composer to "Alison"

Contours for Piano
for: piano
date: 1967-70
duration: 22:00
published: Kenyon Publications/Hal Leonard Corporation HL 50395840
source: American Music Center

Etudes for Piano
for: piano
date: 1977
duration: 12:00
published: Kenyon Publications/Hal Leonard Corporation HL 50395760
source: American Music Center; Northwestern University; other libraries

Evocation and Toccata
date: ?
premiere: Harold Zabrack, piano, Westminster Choir College International Festival of Piano Music, 4/12/89

Piano Sonata No. 1
for: piano
date: 1964
duration: 12:00
published: Kenyon Publications/Hal Leonard Corporation HL 50395730
source: American Music Center; Talbott Library

Piano Sonata No. 2
date: 1968, revised 1980
duration: 14:00
published: Kenyon Publications/Hal Leonard Corporation HL 50395470
source: American Music Center; Talbott Library

Piano Variations
for: piano
date: 1981
published: Kenyon Publications/Hal Leonard Corporation HL 50395450
source: New York Public Library; Talbott Library; Northwestern University; Curtis Institute; others

Preludes for Piano
for: piano
date: ca. 1979
published: Kenyon Publications/Hal Leonard Corporation HL 50480539 (score and cassette)
note: recorded by composer, with commentaries
source: American Music Center; Curtis Institute; other libraries

Scherzo: Hommage à Prokofieff
for: piano (original version)
date: 1967
duration: 2:30
published: Boosey & Hawkes (out of print)
source: Eastman School of Music; Washington (Missouri) University; University of Maryland (College Park); other libraries

Scherzo: Hommage à Prokofieff
for: piano 4-hands (arranged by the composer)
date: 1967
duration: 2:30
published: Kenyon Publications/Hal Leonard Corporation HL 50395220
source: American Music Center; Talbott Library

Song Without Words
for: piano (?)
date: unknown (last work)
source: Goldie Levinson

Symphonic Variations
date: ?
note: solo version of Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra, arranged by the composer

Twilight
for: piano
date: 1985
duration: 2:30
published: Yorktown Music Press/Music Sales Corporation YK20287
note: also published in Piano Encores (Denes Agay, editor).
source: American Music Center; Talbott Library

CHAMBER

Sonata for Two Pianos
date: 1975
premiere: (performers?), Lincoln Center, New York, October 1975
listed: Music for More Than One Piano: An Annotated Guide, edited by Maurice Hinson
source: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Three Pieces for Flute and Guitar
for: flute and guitar
date: 1984
published: Kenyon Publications
note: "Edited by Allen Krantz and Beth Bullard"
source: New York Public Library; Talbott Library; other libraries

WORKS LISTED ELSEWHERE, NOT YET FOUND:

Czerny Goes To Hollywood
listed: ASCAP database

Toccata
listed: ASCAP database
[same piece as Evocation and Toccata?]

Two Duets for Viola and Oboe
date: 1961
listed: Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Eighth Edition (1992)

UNCOMPLETED WORKS:
Unknown

WRITINGS:
Creative Musical Encounters, collection of seven essays, Kenyon Publications (1978). Hal Leonard Corporation HL 50395800.
Contributor to Technique For The Modern Pianist.
"The Difficulty Is In The Subtlety: A Lesson on the Chopin 'Mazurka,'" Clavier 6, no. 2 (1967).
"Musical Performance — A Study in Relatedness," American Music Teacher 19, no. 2 (1969).
"Traditional vs. Experimental Trends in Twentieth Century Music," American Music Teacher 19, no. 5 (1970).
"The Musical Encounter Experience," Clavier 12, no. 4 (April 1973)
"The 'Inventions' Were Meant To Be Teaching Pieces," Clavier 13, no. 8 (November 1974).
"Projecting Emotion: A Lesson on a Brahms Intermezzo," Clavier 14, no. 6 (September 1975).
"Musical Timing: A View of Implicit Musical Reality As It Affects Musical Flow in Brahms' Intermezzo Op.117, No.1 in E-flat Major," Journal of the American Liszt Society 16 (1984).

DISCOGRAPHY:

Cassette:
Six Preludes, recording and commentary by Harold Zabrack, piano, cassette tape published with score, Kenyon Publications.

LPs:
"Six Preludes," Alice Sirooni, piano, Romantic Contemporary Composers. Concert Classics CC7149 (1979?).
Zabrack, Harold Zabrack, piano, performing his own works: Etude no. 2 - Scherzo: Hommage à Prokofieff - Introspection and Landscape (from Eight Contours) - Interlude (from Sonata no. 1) - Allegro con brio (From Sonata no. 2) - Prelude no. 3 - and works by Bartok. Educo Records 3127 (year?).
Piano Sonata no.1, Harold Zabrack, piano, performing his own works: Piano Sonata no.1 - Dialogue - Introspection - Landscape - Hommage à Prokofieff - and works by Beethoven, Debussy and Kabalebsky. Educo Records 3095 (year?).
Landscape; Sonata no.1 (1965); Five Contours, Harold Zabrack, piano, performing his own works and works by Debussy and Kabalevsky.
Harold Zabrack, Harold Zabrack, piano, Jeanette Willy, soprano, St. Louis Little Symphony, Jascha Horenstein, conductor, works by Zabrack: Scherzo - 12-Tone Dialogues - Lyric Piece - Toccata for Piano - Song Cycle - and works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy. Little Symphony (private recording) (1965?).

CDs:
Live recording of April 29, 1993 concert given by Harold Zabrack and students in Sheldon Concert Hall, St. Louis, to benefit Saint Louis Effort For AIDS. Zabrack performed eight of his own works, including Introspection - Dialogue - Three Preludes - Twilight - Scherzo: Hommage à Prokofieff - Evocation. (Privately released CD, one copy in possession of Development Office, Saint Louis Efforts For AIDS. See Resources).
Note: This was the second in a series of three AIDS benefit concerts given by Zabrack. The other concerts took place on March 25, 1993 in Vancouver (all proceeds to PWA Coalition), and May 16, 1993 in Princeton (all proceeds to Rainbow House).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• "Zabrack: Total Musician" by Louise Kenngott, The Milwaukee Journal, October 30, 1977.
• "Pianist Has Dual Role" by Lawrence B. Johnson, Milwaukee Sentinel, November 4, 1977.
• "Professor of Note: Harold Zabrack," Westminster Notes, Vol. 2, no. 1 (May 1988).
• "Zabrack, Harold," Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, edited by Nicholas Slonimsky, Schirmer Books (1972-1992 editions).
• "Zabrack, Harold," Music for More Than One Piano: An Annotated Guide, edited by Maurice Hinson, Indiana University Press (1983).
• "Zabrack, Harold," Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire, edited by Maurice Hinson, Indiana University Press (first edition: 1973, second edition: 1987).
• Obituary, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (date unknown).
• Obituary, New York Times, February 25, 1995.

PERFORMING RIGHTS AFFILIATION:
ASCAP

RESOURCES:
American Music Center
30 West 26th Street
Suite 1001
New York NY 10010
Tel: (212) 366-5260
Fax: (212) 366-5265
www.amc.net

American Music Center Collection
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023-7498
www.nypl.org

Boosey & Hawkes
35 East 21st Street
New York NY 10010
Tel: (212) 358-5300
Fax: (212) 358-5303
bhsales@ny.boosey.com
www.boosey.com

Kenyon Publications
Hal Leonard Corporation
7777 W. Bluemound Road
Milwaukee WI 53213
Tel: (414) 774-3630
Fax: (414) 774-3259
halinfo@halleonard.com
www.halleonard.com

Saint Louis Effort For Aids
1027 South Vandeventer
Suite 700
St. Louis, MO 63110
Tel: (314) 645-6451
Fax: (314) 645-6502
www.stlefa.org

Yorktown Music Press
Music Sales Corporation
257 Park Avenue South
20th Floor
New York NY 10010
Tel: (212) 254-2100 or (800) 431-7187
Fax: (212) 254-2013
www.musicsales.com

MUSICAL EXECUTOR:
Goldie Levinson (sister)
1046 Wappapello Lane
St. Louis, MO 63146-5140
(314) 432-2309
alandgoldie@aol.com

OTHER CONTACTS:
Abigail Wrenn (friend, publicist)
9807 Chriesman Way
Missouri City, TX 77459
phone 281-778-9089
awrenn@awpromotions.com
www.awpromotions.com