ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, April 10, 1997               TAG: 9704100018
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

MUSICIANS' PUBLICIST DIES AT 50 SHE DIED OF CANCER

Elizabeth Snapp Pryor was a Roanoke native.

Roanoke native and Hollins College graduate Elizabeth Snapp Pryor, a publicity agent who worked primarily with composers and new-music ensembles, died Friday of cancer at a New York hospital. She was 50 and lived in Glen Cove, N.Y.

Snapp Pryor, who was called Bette, began her career in the 1970s at the music publishing company G. Schirmer. In 1980, she formed her own company, E. Snapp Inc. Her early clients included John Corigliano, Morton Gould and William Schuman. She also worked for Novello, the English publishing company, from 1980 to 1993, and was responsible for promoting the music of Richard Rodney Bennett, Tristan Keuris, John McCabe and Aulis Sallinen.

In the early 1990s, her company expanded into the world of performance, with an emphasis on new music. One of her responsibilities was the Bang on a Can festival, which she assisted in its transition from a fringe performance in East Village churches to a polished but still adventurous series at Lincoln Center. She also represented the New York Youth Symphony, the Pulse Percussion Ensemble, the American Composers Orchestra and composers including John Luther Adams, Irwin Bazelon, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Michael Nyman, Hugo Weisgall and Julia Wolfe.

She is survived by her husband, Robert Pryor; two children, Shannon and Ben; a sister, Shannon Snapp Natale of Boston; and her mother, Auntrenette Snapp Wills of Roanoke.

The graveside funeral service will be held at 11:30 a.m. today at Evergreen Burial Park in Roanoke.

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