Daniel Barenboim leads the applause following the world premiere of Ran’s Legends for Orchestra on October 7, 1993 (Jim Steere photo)

Wishing a very happy seventieth birthday to composer Shulamit Ran!

During her tenure as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s second composer-in-residence from 1990 until 1997, she worked closely with music directors Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim, along with principal guest conductor Pierre Boulez. Born in Tel Aviv, Ran became the second woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Symphony in 1991.

Works by Ran have been performed by the Orchestra—all in Orchestra Hall—on several occasions, as follows:

October 20, 21, 22, and 25, 1988
RAN Concerto for Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

December 12, 13, 14, and 17, 1991
RAN Chicago Skyline
Pierre Boulez, conductor
World premiere. Commissioned by WFMT in celebration of the radio station’s fortieth anniversary

The world premiere performance of Legends was released on Albany Records in 2007

October 7, 8, and 9, 1993
RAN Legends for Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
World premiere. Commissioned for the centennials of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the University of Chicago by the AT&T Foundation and Meet the Composer Orchestra Residencies Program

October 26, 27, and 28, 1995
RAN Symphony
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

June 3, 4, 5, and 8, 2004
RAN Legends for Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

A staunch advocate for contemporary music, Ran laid the groundwork for the creation of MusicNOW, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s new music concerts, and her works have been programmed on the series as follows:

January 24, 2001
RAN Mirage
Cliff Colnot, conductor
Mary Stolper, flute
Larry Combs, clarinet
Baird Dodge, violin
Katinka Kleijn, cello
Amy Dissanayake, piano

Shulamit Ran (Dan Rest photo)

May 8, 2006
RAN Fault Line
Cliff Colnot, conductor
Tony Arnold, soprano
Jennifer Clippert, flute and piccolo
Michael Henoch, oboe
Eric Mandat, clarinet and bass clarinet
Wagner Campos, clarinet and bass clarinet
David Griffin, horn
Christopher Martin, trumpet
Joseph Rodriguez, trombone
Vadim Karpinos, percussion
Michael Kozakis, percussion
Amy Dissanayake, piano
Nathan Cole, violin
Akiko Tarumoto, violin
Yukiko Ogura, viola
Kenneth Olsen, cello
Michael Hovnanian, bass
World premiere. Commissioned for MusicNOW

October 2, 2017
RAN Birkat Haderekh—Blessing for the Road
J. Lawrie Bloom, clarinet
Yuan-Qing Yu, violin
Kenneth Olsen, cello
Winston Choi, piano

Happy, happy birthday!