Jan Bach

Dr. Jan Bach, DMA, taught music theory and composition courses at Northern Illinois University from 1966 until his retirement in 2004. In 1982, he was awarded a Presidential Research Professorship grant. He was Northern Illinois University’s nominee for the National CASE Professor of the Year award six times. Even after his retirement, Dr. Bach remained well connected with the School of Music, attending performances and frequently visiting the NIU Music Library.

Dr. Bach began composing original pieces at age 7; at age 20, he won the BMI Student Composers first prize. He later won the Koussevitsky competition at Tanglewood; the Harvey Gaul Composition Contest; the Mannes College opera competition; the Sigma Alpha Iota choral composition award; first prize at the First International Brass Congress in Montreux, Switzerland; grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council; the Brown University choral composition award; first prize in the Nebraska Sinfonia chamber orchestra competition; and first prize in the New York City Opera competition.

Dr. Bach studied piano and violin and was an accomplished French Horn player, playing associate first horn in the U.S. Army Band for three years prior to coming to NIU. He delighted in writing for all combinations of instruments, especially those he could not himself play. He composed operas, orchestral works, chamber music, choral pieces and more. His widely acclaimed Concerto for Steel Pan and Orchestra, which he wrote for the NIU Steel Band and its soloist Liam Teague, was the first of its kind. Dr. Bach’s works have been performed and recorded worldwide.

Dr. Bach was also a cartoonist. He provided illustrations for countless concert programs, posters, and other print material for NIU’s School of Music. In 1971, he drew a group caricature of the School of Music faculty for publication in the Music Educators’ Journal.

This award is in memory of Dr. Bach’s many contributions to Northern Illinois University.