Composer and percussionist Warren Benson was a faculty member in the School of Music from 1953 to 1967 and made a huge difference in many IC students' lives. He also wrote the music for the College's original alma mater, the "Ithaca College Anthem." He passed away in October 2005. To honor him, his former student, acclaimed composer Persis Parshall Vehar '59, wrote "Kaddish (In Memoriam – Warren Benson).”
The composition will have its world premiere, performed by the 40-voice-strong Ithaca College Choir, on Sunday, October 8, 2006, at 3:00 p.m. in Ford Hall. It is part of the School of Music's (free) annual fall Choral Collage, also featuring the Women's Chorale, the Ithaca College Chorus, the Madrigals, and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble (under the direction of Lauri Robinson-Keegan '89, M.M. '00). Other conductors on the collage are Lawrence Doebler and Janet Galvan.
The work of another alumnus composer, Allan E. Naplan '94, will also be heard at the event: his “Mi Chamocha” will be performed by the chorus.
Warren Benson joined the Ithaca College School of Music faculty in 1953 as composer in residence. He established one of the country’s first touring percussion ensembles and created many pieces for percussion and for wind ensembles. His most well-known works include his Symphony for Drums and Wind Orchestra (1962) and The Leaves Are Falling (1963). Recipient of many awards including a Guggenheim Composer Fellowship and a Ford Foundation grant, he left IC in 1967 to teach at the Eastman School of Music. Last year he was the subject of a book by Alan Wagner, "A Bio-bibliography of Composer Warren Benson."
Persis Parshall Vehar has composed more than 200 vocal and instrumental pieces. Ranging from chamber music through large ensembles and including two operas, many have broadcast on NPR and on television and been performed internationally. Vehar has been the recipient of 6 meet-the-composer grants and 17 annual ASCAP awards. She has performed as piano soloist with many orchestras, including the BPO and Ars Nova Musicians Chamber Orchestra. Vehar is currently Composer-in-Residence at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20061005162454140