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Wednesday, Aug. 29th marked the passing of composer and distinguished professor emeritus Robert Stern at age 84.  Stern was recruited to teach composition and theory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1964 by then-department chair Philip Bezanson. Previously, Stern received his BA from the University of Rochester and his MA and Ph.D. from the Eastman School of Music. He studied with Louis Mennin, Kent Kennan, Wayne Barlow, Bernard Rogers, Lukas Foss, and Howard Hanson.

During his 38-year tenure with the Department of Music & Dance, Stern was the recipient of numerous prestigious grants, including those from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, and the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund. He was awarded fellowships from the MacDowell, Millay, and Yaddo Colonies, and awards from ASCAP and the Premio Musicale Citta di Trieste International Competition. Stern’s music has been performed throughout the United States as well as in Europe, China, South America, Japan, and Israel by such prominent ensembles and artists as the Beaux Arts String Quartet, Collage, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Contemporary Chamber Players at the University of Chicago, the Eastman Musica Nova, Yehudi Wyner, Joel Smirnoff, Gilbert Kalish, Marni Nixon, Jan Opalach, Joel Krosnick, and the Gregg Smith Singers.

Stern received commissions from the Library of Congress McKim Fund, the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, the Manchester International Cello Festival, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. His works have been recorded on many labels and published by G. Schirmer, Rinaldo Music Press, and Transcontinental Music.

In February 2018, the department honored Stern with a special performance, during which he was lauded by friends and colleagues as a brilliant educator, composer, and “the personification of sensitivity and respectfulness.”  

A memorial service was held on Monday, September 3 at 1 p.m. at the Jewish Community of Amherst, located at 742 Main St., Amherst, MA.