A Juilliard avant-gardist dies at 82
RIPThe death has been reported of Michael Czajkowski, an electronic pioneer who gave up early renown as a composer to become a lifelong teacher at Juilliard and the Aspen Music Festival. His wife, Sandy, was music librarian of both institutions. She survives him.
Milwaukee born, Czajkowski played in brass bands and chamber recitals before he discovered the synthesizer. His album People The Sky was an avant-garde sensation in 1969, leading him to work on Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Illuminations” album and to collaborate with the ever-curious composer Morton Subotnick.
Until he gave all that up to be a teacher.
Sad. I remember his cowboy hat and pointy cowboy boots. and his dedication,
Mike was a wonderful teacher/composer at Juilliard and Aspen. He retired to the beautiful mountains of Colorado. RIP Mike!
Mike was a brilliant thinker and organizer. We were friends back in the Juilliard and Aspen days. He even organized a chorus in the mountains. The cause of death was from liver cancer.
I had a wonderful summer at Aspen working with Mike. Marvelous teacher. He and Sandy were great. Outdoorsy, athletic, great fun and very insightful. His understanding of Renaissance counterpoint was really something. He was very interested in his students well-being. Very kind man. He liked to say that his heart was in Colorado but he always seemed to find his ass in New York.
I used to buy some of those c.1970 avant-garde classical LPs (including “People the Sky”) just for the tie-dyed covers.
I remember playing in the musicians’ softball games with him at Aspen. He was a pretty good third baseman and an enormously appealing human being.
Quite sad. He was my L&M teacher at Juilliard 26 years ago. Always cheerful, though I remember a sneering remark he made about Scriabin once. I regret my lack of interest in his course and the fact that I brought my breakfast sandwich to class (first class of the day). His wife was the..rather severe, shall we say, gate-keeper to the record room in the library.
Great to hear this music. I was fond of Mike with his gentle manner and droll humor! Always a clarifying presence in our Aspen days. Carole Cowan
I’m sorry to see this. Mike was my theory teacher at Juilliard. He had a wry wit and approachable manner. I was a student worker in the record library under Sandy, whom I also liked.