Honoree-
Raoul Pleskow

Raoul Pleskow served as composer-in-residence at the C.W. Post Campus and as chairman of the school’s music department for 25 years. A distinguished musician and memorable professor, he managed in singular style.

Professor Pleskow was born in Vienna, Austria. His father was a well-known violinist and young Raoul grew up knowing he would never be anything other than a musician.

The Pleskows escaped from Hitler’s scourge and found a home in America when Raoul was just nine. In New York, he attended the Julliard School of Music, and earned his B.M. from Queens College and his M.M. from Columbia. In 1959, he was hired to teach at C.W. Post by renowned composer Stefan Wolpe who was then chairman of the Music Department. Wolpe became friend and mentor, and for a while the two men were the whole music department.

The spare ranks meant a full schedule and sometimes taking on unexpected duties. Professor Pleskow was asked to lead the band at Post football games despite the fact that he was completely unfamiliar with the sport. He was told not to worry, he would be tapped on the shoulder whenever the band was required to play. The band’s performance was so successful that the football coach asked the professor to play at half time. “No, no,” replied Professor Pleskow. “The music is written in 4/4 time; I will play it in 4/4 time!”.

The quality of Raoul Pleskow’s music has garnered many awards and honors including two University Trustee Awards for Scholarly Achievement; grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund and the National Institute of Arts and Letters; and a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Hailed as the Mozart of contemporary music, his compositions have been performed throughout the United States and Europe by distinguished ensembles including the Kennedy Center Chamber Players and the Cleveland Philharmonic.

Despite his abundant honors, Mr. Pleskow lives a spartan life. He admits to having no computer, no car, no answering machine and only a black and white television. Music, it seems, is the one modern thing in his life — a rich and plentiful gift to his audiences and to his former students at C.W. Post.

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