Blog Detail
Ernie Stires (1925-2008) - American Composer
http://www.erniestires.com
A tribute to Ernie Stires, American composer and noted mentor of Trey Anastasio of Phish.
Recent Posts
A brief history of the piano.
During my recent trip to Washington DC, I spent an afternoon digging through the Nicholas Slonimsky Collection at the Library of Congress to see if I could find evidence of correspondence between Ernie Stires and his beloved mentor. Along with one ...
A gift to share: Louise Homer and family
Ernie Stires came from a prestigious lineage of musicians. Ernie’s cousin was legendary American composer Samuel Barber, widely known for his piece Adagio For Strings (or Agnus Dei, for voices arranged by the composer). Louise Homer, Ernie...
Music for humanity
” Every child should have an opportunity to learn to play some musical instrument and should be taught to sing. All schools, including the lower grades, should have teachers of music of high standard. For children with special aptitude for mu...
Recommended lecture: The Symphony
I have to quickly remark on a 24-part lecture series I’ve been thoroughly enjoying entitled, “The Symphony” by Robert Greenberg, Ph.D. and distributed by The Teaching Company. With an energetic and entertaining delivery (think Mel B...
Making what is old, new again.
While listening to NPR’s review of guitarist Sharon Isbin’s latest release Journey to the New World the other day, I was reminded of something Ernie once suggested during a discussion on the composer’s role in popular music. Isbin...
Ernie’s Muse
“My muse is a combination of Tallulah Bankhead and Bette Davis,” he drawls. “She smokes and she drinks and she’s sore [...]...

