Talib Rasul Hakim

Who is Talib Rasul Hakim?

Talib Rasul Hakim is an American composer. Born Stephen Alexander Chambers on February 8, 1940 in Asheville, North Carolina, he grew up playing music in school, studying clarinet, piano, and singing in church choir. He later studied music at the Manhattan School of Music, New York College of Music, and the New School for Social Research, New York. His teachers include Morton Feldman, Ornette Coleman, Margaret Bonds, Robert Starer, Hall Overton, Chou Wen-Chung, William Sydeman, Hale Smith, and Charles Whittenberg.

Hakim first came to attention in the wider music community through appearances of his works on the "Music in Our Time" concert series in New York in the mid-1960s. He received awards and residencies from the Bennington Composers Conference and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, as well as ASCAP, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Creative Artist Public Service Program. In addition to composing, Hakim taught at Pace College, Adelphi University, Nassau Community College, and Morgan State University, as well as working as a radio and television producer.

Hakim changed his name in 1973 after converting to Sufism. He died March 31, 1988 in New Haven, Connecticut.