[1] A self-taught composer, Kupferman first gained attention in the late 1940s when his early opera "In A Garden" was premiered at the Tanglewood and Edinburgh Festivals.
As a young man Kupferman played jazz in bars and clubs on Coney Island, and arranged for big bands.
In 1951 he was hired as Professor of Composition and Chamber Music at Sarah Lawrence College, a position he held until 1994.
Much of Kupferman's music contains large gestures and short dramatic hooks which are a critical to his compositional technique (his "gestalt form").
Kupferman resided in Rhinebeck, New York, where he and his wife Pei-Fen welcomed members of the community.