Alan Shulman

Alan Shulman was born in Baltimore to a Russian immigrant father and a Jewish mother and grew up making music with his two siblings. A talented cellist and arranger from an early age, he performed with the Shulman Trio on radio, studied at the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School and won a New York Philharmonic scholarship. He played under Arturo Toscanini in the NBC Symphony Orchestra, co‑founded the Stuyvesant String Quartet with his brother and worked as an arranger for bandleaders such as Leo Reisman and André Kostelanetz.

Shulman became known as a prolific composer whose work blended classical forms with jazz idioms. His best‑known pieces include the ‘Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra’ and the ‘Suite on American Folk Songs’. He wrote chamber and orchestral works, film scores and educational pieces, founded the Violoncello Society and taught at several colleges. His contribution to American music and his fusion of classical and popular styles continue to be admired.