Early life and education Marilyn Ziffrin was born in
Moline, Illinois, to parents Betty S. and Harry B. Ziffrin, (both children of Russian immigrants who emigrated from
Belogorodka, Ukraine, due to growing
anti-semitism). Harry, who grew up in the then Tri-Cities of Moline, Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa, and Betty, who grew up in St. Louis, were first cousins; their fathers were brothers. They both were first cousins of
Lester Ziffren, the famous journalist, and
Paul Ziffren, the Democratic Party leader from Los Angeles. Harry Ziffrin owned a liquor distributorship in Moline, but every member of the Ziffrin immediate family played a musical instrument. She also taught private composition lessons at
St. Paul's School in
Concord, New Hampshire, from 1972 to 1983. While at St. Paul's, one of Ziffrin's compositions students was
Augusta Read Thomas, a renowned composer, who remembers Ziffrin as a role model and "an impressive teacher and musician." She was also the author of
Carl Ruggles: Composer, Painter, and Storyteller (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).
Music and compositional philosophy Ziffrin's music was influenced by the works of major European composers like
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Joseph Haydn,
Béla Bartók,
Igor Stravinsky, and
Johann Sebastian Bach. She was also inspired by
jazz, Jewish and
synagogue music, and
Broadway musicals. Ziffrin composed many pieces in a wide variety of genres, including opera, film scores, wind ensemble, orchestra, and choral music as well as chamber and solo works. Most works were commissioned or written for specific performers. They are assimilated to form quite different and distinctive sounds depending on the composition. According to Ziffrin, "While my style continues to change, it is probably best described as eclectic. I choose to believe it is essentially expressive, optimistic, and adventurous." ==Selected works==