Emma Lou Diemer

b. 1927

Emma Lou Diemer, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, received her degrees in music composition from the Yale School of Music (BM, MM) and the Eastman School of Music (Ph.D). She studied further in Brussels on a Fulbright Scholarship and at Tanglewood. She is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara where she taught composition and theory from 1971 to 1991. She has been composer-in-residence with the Santa Barbara Symphony, and is organist emerita at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara. Her music has been published since 1957, and a number of her works are recorded. Diemer has received annual ASCAP awards since 1962 for performances and publications. Other recognition includes a Louisvlle Orchestra Student Award, a Ford Foundation Young Composers Grant for a 2-year composer-residency in the Arlington, VA schools, an NEA fellowship in electronic music, a Kennedy Center Friedheim award for her Concerto in One Movement for Piano, the American Guild of Organists Composer of the Year award, and a Mu Phi Epsilon Merit Award, plus numerous commissions.