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Wednesday December 15, 2021

Seven Composers Selected For 2022 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute

Composers will travel to Minneapolis for Orchestra’s professional training program, directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts and co-presented with the American Composers Orchestra;

Institute runs from May 2-6, 2022, culminating in a Minnesota Orchestra MusicMakers concert conducted by Osmo Vänskä, the final such concert under Vänskä’s baton as music director;

YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio will offer a live broadcast of the MusicMakers performance;

New this season: MusicMakers concert will also be shared live via online streaming.

Seven emerging composers have been selected as participants for the Minnesota Orchestra’s 18th annual Composer Institute, the Orchestra announced today. The selected composers, whose works encompass a wide variety of musical styles, were chosen from a pool of about 300 applicants and will be part of a deeply immersive experience in Minneapolis from May 2-6, 2022, as they participate in rehearsals, seminars and mentoring sessions. For the first time ever, the culminating “MusicMakers” performance of their works will be shared live on the Orchestra’s website and social media channels on Friday, May 6, 2022. The performance also marks an ending: it will be the final MusicMakers concert under Music Director Osmo Vänskä’s baton before he steps down from his leadership role at the end of the 2021-22 season.  

The 18th annual Composer Institute participants are Henry L. Dorn of Little Rock, Arkansas; Adeliia Faizullina of Providence, Rhode Island; Bobby Ge of Shanghai, China; Ryan Lindveit of Lake Jackson, Texas; Molly Joyce of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Nina Shekhar of Detroit, Michigan; and Sam Wu of Melbourne, Australia.

“This is a landmark year for the Composer Institute,” said composer Kevin Puts, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who serves as its director. “In addition to presenting these exciting new works—and their creators!— in a live concert and live radio broadcast, we are now also able to reach new audiences through a livestream shared on the Orchestra’s website and social channels which will broaden the exposure for these talented composers at a crucial period in their careers. We’ll be paying tribute to Osmo with these concerts, too. He has been a great champion of this project and the dozens of composers who have participated in it since 2001, always treating their work with the utmost respect and commitment, and we are honored he will conduct the May 6 MusicMakers performance.”

Puts chaired the Institute’s selection committee, which included Composer Institute alumni Katherine Balch and Viet Cuong, as well as composer Roberto Sierra.

Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute History

The Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, widely recognized as a leading professional training program for emerging symphonic composers, grew from the Orchestra’s “Perfect Pitch” program, a series of new music reading sessions for Minnesota composers launched in 1996 in collaboration with the American Composers Forum. Perfect Pitch was reformulated in 2001 as the Composer Institute to broaden the program’s focus and invite national participation. In 2006, Music Director Osmo Vänskä added a public concert of the composers’ new works, originally called Future Classics and later renamed MusicMakers, which he led himself each year. Composer Aaron Jay Kernis directed the program for its first 11 seasons and was succeeded by Kevin Puts in 2015. In 2020, the American Composers Orchestra became the new co-presenter of the Composer Institute.

Many of the 148 composers who have previously taken part in the program have gone on to impressive careers, earning prestigious commissions and high honors, including multiple Grammy nominations and two shortlists for the Pulitzer Prize.


Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute
MUSICMAKERS  

Friday, May 6, 2022, 8 p.m. / Orchestra Hall

Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vanska, conductor
Kevin Puts, Composer Institute director 

HENRY L. DORN                    Transitions
ADELIIA FAIZULLINA          Bolghar
BOBBY GE                              Remember to Have Fun
MOLLY JOYCE                       Over and Under
RYAN LINDVEIT                    Close Up at a Distance
NINA SHEKHAR                     Lumina
SAM WU                                 Wind Map

Audiences can hear the MusicMakers concert by attending the live performance; listening to the live radio broadcast on YourClassical MPR (99.5 FM in the Twin Cities); or watching the livestream at minnesotaorchestra.org or via the Orchestra’s social media channels.

 

TICKET PURCHASING INFORMATION

Individual tickets and Minnesota Orchestra subscription packages can be purchased now at minnesotaorchestra.org or by calling 612-371-5656. For groups of 10 or more, call 612-371-5662.

Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test (PCR) from the last 72 hours prior to the event is required for all guests, including children of all ages, entering Orchestra Hall. Details at minnesotaorchestra.org/safety.

We currently require masks to be worn inside ALL locations at Orchestra Hall including the lobby, auditorium and backstage. Masks can be removed outside of Orchestra Hall to enjoy a beverage on our patio spaces. Once entering Orchestra Hall, we require a mask for the duration of the experience. These policies remain in place, until further notice.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

The May 2022 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute is generously supported by the American Composers Orchestra, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, The Amphion Foundation and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

All programs, artists, dates, times and prices subject to change.

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