SEVEN EMERGING COMPOSERS CHOSEN FOR 2009 MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA
COMPOSER INSTITUTE
Composers will travel to Minneapolis for Orchestra’s
acclaimed professional training program; Institute runs from
November 17-22, 2009, highlighted by November 21 Future Classics
concert
(July 20, 2009) -- Seven emerging composers have been
selected as participants in the Minnesota Orchestra’s ninth
annual Composer Institute, Institute Director Aaron Jay Kernis
announced today. Chosen from a pool of 143 candidates through a
competitive process, the composers hail from locations
throughout the U.S. as well as Spain and Hong Kong, and their
works represent a variety of musical styles. They will travel
to Minneapolis from November 17 to 22, 2009, for six days of
rehearsals, seminars and tutoring sessions, as well as a public
concert of their works on Saturday, November 21, led by Music
Director Osmo Vänskä.
The participants are Fernando Buide of Santiago, Spain; Geoff
Knorr of Baltimore, Maryland; Hong Kong native Angel Lam of New
Haven, Connecticut; Kathryn Salfelder of Boston, Massachusetts;
Carl Schimmel of Grinnell, Iowa; Spencer Topel of Hanover, New
Hampshire; and Roger Zare of Sarasota, Florida.
“We received dozens of exceptionally-crafted scores, which
made the final choices difficult,” says Kernis, who chaired the
selection panel. “The high quality of submissions confirms what
we know from past Composer Institutes: the future of new
orchestral music is vibrant and strong.” Other panel members
included composers Derek Bermel, Donald Crockett and Steven
Stucky, as well as Orchestra violist Kenneth Freed.
Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute: Acclaimed
program enters ninth year
The Orchestra’s Composer Institute, co-presented with the
American Composers Forum in cooperation with the American Music
Center, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional
training programs for emerging symphonic composers. The
Institute, directed by Kernis, is an outgrowth of the
Orchestra’s Perfect Pitch program, an annual series of new music
reading sessions for Minnesota composers launched during the
1995-96 season. Many of the 86 composers who have previously
taken part in Perfect Pitch and the Composer Institute have gone
on to receive major commissions, awards, grants and additional
performances of their works.
More on the 2009 Composer Institute participants
Fernando Buide’s compositions have been performed by
such ensembles as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Latin
American String Quartet and Real Filharmonía de Galicia in his
native Spain. In addition to orchestral and chamber music, he
writes for choral and wind ensembles. He earned degrees at
Carnegie Mellon University and the Yale School of Music. The
Orchestra will perform his Antiphones.
Geoff
Knorr is a recent graduate of the Peabody Conservatory,
where he earned degrees in music composition and recording arts
and sciences. His music has been honored with numerous awards
including the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award. He works
as a composer and sound designer at the computer game developer
Firaxis Games. The Orchestra will perform his Shadows of the
Infinite.
Angel
Lam’s music has been heard throughout the U.S. and in
many major cities around the world. In recent years her
composition Empty Mountain, Spirit Rain was included in
the touring repertoire of the Silk Road Ensemble. In fall 2009
her new work for cello and orchestra will be premiered by Yo-Yo
Ma and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. The
Orchestra will perform her In Search of Seasons.
Kathryn Salfelder has recently won several
major composition awards including the ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick
Fennell Prize and the U.S. Air Force Band’s Colonel Arnald D.
Gabriel Award. In addition to her work as a composer, she is
also active as a pianist. She earned a bachelor’s degree at the
New England Conservatory and will begin studies at Yale in fall
2009. The Orchestra will perform her Dessin No. 1.
Carl
Schimmel is assistant professor of composition and
theory at Illinois State University. His music has been heard
across North America, Europe and Asia, and has been recognized
with many awards. In 2008 he was interviewed on National Public
Radio’s All Things Considered about his Elemental
Homunculi for piano, saxophone and squeaky toy. The
Orchestra will perform his Woolgatherer’s Chapbook.
Spencer
Topel is currently pursuing a doctor of musical arts
degree at Cornell University, and serves as lecturer and
technical director at Dartmouth College in the Digital Musics
Program. In addition, he holds degrees from the Juilliard
School. His compositions have been performed at venues ranging
from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Tokyo City Opera Hall. The
Orchestra will perform his Incendio.
Roger
Zare has earned composition degrees from the University
of Southern California and Peabody Conservatory of music, and is
now pursuing a doctorate at the University of Michigan. He has
won such major awards as the prestigious ASCAP Rudolf Nissim
Prize and two BMI Student Composer Awards.
In addition to composing he plays piano and violin. The
Orchestra will perform his Aerodynamics.
In addition to the seven composers chosen to participate in
the Composer Institute, the panel designated the following
applicants as alternates: Wang Jie, Ching-Mei Lin and Alex
Miller. Named as runners-up are: Jean Ahn, Armando Bayolo, Ted
Goldman and David Weaver. Cited for honorable mention are:
Christopher Cerrone, Peter Fahey, Matthew Hough, Chia-Yi Hsu,
Sally Lamb, Xinyan Li, Arthur McCaffrey, Andrew McPherson,
Andreia Pinto-Correia, Gity Razaz and Vladamir Smirnov.
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The 2009 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute is generously
sponsored by The Amphion Foundation, The ASCAP
Foundation, the BMI Foundation, The Aaron Copland
Fund for Music, Gerald B. and Catherine L. Fischer,
the Jack and Linda Hoeschler Fund of The Saint Paul
Foundation, The Hella Mears and Bill Hueg Fund of The
Saint Paul Foundation, F. Bruce and Diana Lewis, the
National Endowment for the Arts, David and Judy
Ranheim, and the Sewell Charitable Fund.
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PRESS CONTACTS:
Gwen Pappas, Director of Public Relations
(612) 371-5628 • gpappas@mnorch.org
Sandi Brown, Public Relations Coordinator
(612) 371-5641 • sbrown@mnorch.org
