Borroff, Edith

Edith Borroff

Biography

Born: August 02, 1925

Country: New York City, U.S.A.;

Studies: American Conservatory (B.M.1946, M.M. 1948), University of Michigan (Ph.D.1958)

Teachers: Irwin Fischer

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Edith Borroff (b. 1925) received her education at Oberlin Conservatory, the American Conservatory of Music and the University of Michigan. She has taught at Hillsdale College, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and has been professor of music at Eastern Michigan University since 1966. Her areas of research have centered on 17th-century French chamber music, American and contemporary music. Borroff also holds an interest in education and has contributed to many educational journals. She became the contemporary music critic for the Ann Arbor News in 1966. (Bio written by Lynn Vought, All Music Guide)

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Edith Borroff (b. 1925) was born in New York City, the daughter of Marie Bergersen and Ramon Borroff, both well-known professional musicians. Trained in music from babyhood, she composed songs and piano pieces before she was six. In 1941 the family moved to Chicago; there, Borroff, who already knew she wanted to be a composer, earned a B.Mus. (1946) and M.Mus. (1948) in composition at the American Conservatory of Music, with an undergraduate minor in organ (including two years at Oberlin with Claire Coci) and a graduate minor in voice with the redoubtable singer Frances Grund.

It was not easy for American women composers to be taken seriously at that time. In 1954 Borroff went to Ann Arbor, where she earned her Ph.D. in the history of music at the University of Michigan in 1958. Since then, she has taught music history and composed music, retiring from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1992. She now lives in Durham, North Carolina.

From 1950 to 1954 Borroff taught at Milwaukee-Downer College, which was then a school for women students only. There she composed several choral pieces for women's voices, including "The Christ-Child Lay on Mary's Lap". The poem, by G.K. Chesterton, had long been a favorite, and it was natural for her to set it to music. In composing it, Borroff tried to incorporate both the form and the mood of the poem in the music.

Works for Percussion

Concerto for Marimba and Small Orch. - Marimba; Orchestra
Suite for Percussion: Eight Canons for Six Players - Percussion Sextet
Trio for Tenor Saxophone, Piano and Percussion - Multiple Percussion; Piano; Tenor Saxophone