Ursula Mamlok

Ursula Mamlok (February 1, 1923 – May 4, 2016) was a German-born American composer and teacher.

Mamlok was born as Ursula Meyer in Berlin, Germany, into a Jewish family, and studied piano and composition with Professor Gustav Ernest and Emily Weissgerber until her family fled Nazi Germany following the nationwide pogrom in 1938. Due to American immigration quotas, the family moved to Guayaquil, Ecuador. Ursula immigrated alone to New York City in 1940 to attend the Mannes School of Music, which had offered her full scholarship on the basis of one of her compositions. Her parents followed in 1941. She became an American citizen in 1945.

During four years at the Mannes School Mamlok studied under the direction of George Szell. She received a bachelor's and master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music in the 1950s, studying with Vittorio Giannini. Other teachers include Roger Sessions and Ralph Shapey in composition and Eduard Steuermann, one of the foremost piano pedagogues at the time, in performance.

Though Hindemith was one of her earliest influences, Mamlok credited the works of serial composers, including Schoenberg, Berg and Webern, as having the greatest impact on her compositional style. She also said: "My music is colorful, with the background of tonality – tonal centers … I can't shake it completely."

Mamlok composed extensively for small chamber ensembles of various configurations as well as works for piano. However, her output included a few pieces for orchestra, including a concerto for oboe. Other works included several songs, as well as works for voice and chamber ensemble. Mamlok's husband, Dwight Mamlok, wrote the text for her 1987 song "Der Andreasgarten".

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