Biography
Kurt Roger (1895-1966) was an Austrian-born, naturalised-U.S. composer.
Roger was born on the 3rd May 1895 to Viennese parents, and studied at the Vienna University. He received his Doctorate in 1918, and went on to teach at the Vienna Conservatoire from 1923 to 1938. His compositions began to be performed by leading musicians, but the Nazi Anschluss in 1938 forced him to emigrate to the United States.
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From 1939 he lived and taught in New York, taking naturalisation in 1945. In 1953 he moved to Washington, DC, where hectured at several universities, and gave radio tallks on music, especially on Mahler and Bruckner.
From 1948 Roger was invited back to Austria on lecture tours. In 1964 he accepted a guest professorship at Queen's University Belfast. As Roger's wife was born in Ulster, this proved to be a happy coda to his life. In 1965 the Austrian government conferred on him the Order of Merit first class in the field of art and science.
Roger died on 4th August 1966 whilst visiting Vienna. He was subsequently given a grave of honour there.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.