Ingolf Dahl

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Ingolf Dahl (b. Hamburg, Germany, June 9, 1912; d. Frutigen, Switzerland, 1970) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, and educator. Born to Swedish parents, he studied with Philipp Jarnach at the Cologne Hochschule für Musik, in Cologne, Germany (1930-32). Fleeing Germany where the Nazi Party was coming to power, he continued his studies at the University of Zürich with Volkmar Andreae and Walter Frey.

Dahl emigrated to the United States in 1938, settling in Los Angeles and joining the community of expatriate musicians that included Ernst Krenek, Darius Milhaud, Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, and Ernst Toch. Dahl became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943 and in 1945 he joined the faculty of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he taught until his death.

Among Dahl's honors are two Guggenheim Fellowships, two Huntington Hartford Fellowships, an Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Southern California, and the ASCAP Stravinsky Award.

Dahl's music has been recorded on the Boston Records, Capstone, Centaur, Chandos, CRI, Crystal, Klavier, Nimbus, and Summit labels.

Among Dahl's former students is the American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.

Dahl performed the second movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven) in the 1969 animated film A Boy Named Charlie Brown.

The Music Library of the University of Southern California holds an Ingolf Dahl Archive, consisting of the composer's scores, manuscripts, papers, and tapes.