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NEWS

Michael Daugherty performance of Trail of Tears at Carnegie Hall

UM faculty member Michael Daugherty had his flute concerto Trail of Tears performed by the American ComposersOrchestra at Carnegie Hall.  The work was presented on the Orchestra Underground, American Accounts concert, meant to highlight works that are both narrative and uniquely American. Flutist Amy Porter (also a UM faculty member) was the soloist on the work. A New York Times review of the concert can be found here. 

John Boggs wins 2nd annual Brehm Prize for a new choral composition

UM Masters student John Boggs has been named the winner of the 2012 Brehm Prize in Choral Composition.  The award includes a cash prize and performance by the University Chamber Choir during the 2012-2013 season.  The prize has been established to encourage the composition of choral works by SMTD students, and made possible by William (BS ’50, MS ’52) and Delores Brehm. Mr. Brehm, a composer in his own right and a lover of choral music, has had his works performed in concert at U-M, the Smithsonian Institution, and at Fuller Theological Seminary. John Boggs's music has been performed by the American Symphony Orchestra, Da Capo, the Colorado String Quartet, Matisse Quartet, and new music ensemble Contemporaneous.  He currently studies with Kristen Kuster.

Sydney Hodkinson finishes residency as William Bolcom Visiting Professor of Composition

Composer and conductor Syd Hodkinson has completed his residency at the University of Michigan.  He visited Ann Arbor on numerous occasions during the winter semester.  He gave private lessons to UM composition students, conducted master classes and reading sessions, and attended performances of his works.  The University Symphony Orchestra, Contemporary Directions Ensemble, Percussion Studio, and Symphony Band all performed works by Hodkinson. 
Syd is former UM faculty member and composition alumni, earning his DMA  at Michigan in 1968. He founded the UM Contemporary Directions Ensemble which continues to thrive at the University.  He has a catalogue of over 250 works and awards from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, Guggenheim Foundation, the Canada Council, The National Endowment for the Arts, and many others.  He currently conducts the Contemporary Ensemble and
teaches composition at the Aspen Colorado Music Festival and School.

Mason Bates guest speaker at UM composition seminar

Composer in residence at both the San Francisco Symphony and Chicago Symphony, Mason Bates presented his new work Alternative Energy to the UM composition seminar.  He stayed for a Q&A discussing that work as well as the logistics of combining electronics with standard ensembles.  He visited as part of the San Francisco Symphony American Mavericks residency.  His choral work Mass Transmission commissioned for this SFS residency premiered later in the week with the Jerry Blackstone conducting the UM Chamber Choir, Bates on electronics, and Paul Jacobs on organ.

Pianist Jeremy Denk gives guest lecture on Ives Concord Sonata

Jeremy Denk met with the composition seminar to discuss the Charles Ives Concord Sonata. Denk is a preeminent performer of the Concord Sonata, and the featured artist for the 2011-2012 Ives Project. He is a faculty member at Bard, the recipient of an Avery Fischer career grant and maintains a popular blog thinkdenk. The SFS performed the orchestrated version of the Concord Sonata later in the week.  Denk joined the SFS for a performance of the Cowell Piano Concerto while in Ann Arbor.

Lisa Bielawa presents her works and discusses Einstein on the Beach

Composer and singer Lisa Bielawa was a guest composer at the UM composition seminar.  She visited Ann Arbor in conjunction with the Philip Glass opera tour of "Einstein on the Beach."  Her visit included a discussion of Einstein, the challenges of starting a career as a composer, and the need for music in ones life.  On the latter she stated, "Not everyone needs music, but those that do really, really need it."

Brave New Works residency announced

The University of Michigan Composition Department in combination with the Residential College will be hosting Brave New Works (BNW) as an ensemble in residence.  BNW was started in Ann Arbor by University of Michigan music students, and is dedicated to the performance and promotion of new music.  Their residency will include two concerts:

                  11/18 Kerrytown Concert House

                  11/19 McIntosh Theatre

Sydney Hodkinson named the 2011-2012 William Bolcom Visiting Professor of Composition

Composer Sydney Hodkinson will be making a number of trips to Ann Arbor during the Winter term as the 2011-2012 William Bolcom Guest Professor of Composition. Hodkinson has deep roots in Michigan, having graduated with his DMA in composition from UofM in 1968, and eventually teaching here.  He has an extensive catalogue of over 250 works spanning a variety of genres and instrumentations many of which will be performed during this residency.  Hodkinson's teachers include Elliot Carter, Milton Babbit, Roger Sessions, Lesley Bassett, Ross Lee Finney and Niccolo Castiglioni Benjamin Britten, and Louis Dallipicolla.  Hodkinson went on to teach at the Universities of Virginia, Ohio and Michigan, as well as The Eastman School of Music from which he retired in 1999.  He currently conducts the Contemporary Ensemble and teaches composition at the Aspen Colorado Music Festival and School. Sydney's works have garnered awards from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, Guggenheim Foundation, the Canada Council, The National Endowment for the Arts and many more.  The composition department looks forward to Hodkinson's guest professorship.

Susan Botti Premieres Terra Cruda

The University of Michigan Symphony band performed works by Susan Botti including Cosmosis, and the premiere of Terra Cruda.  Botti, a former University of Michigan faculty member currently teaches as the Manhattan School of Music.  She also presented her works at the weekly composition seminar alongside Marylin Shrude.

Lembit Beecher named Composer in residence for Philadelphia Opera

Recent University of Michigan graduate Lembit Beecher has been named the first composer in residence for the Philadelphia Opera Company.  He was selected out of a pool of more than 150 candidates.  Lembit's three year appointment will be divided between New York and Philadelphia where he will work with Gotham Chamber Opera, Music-Theatre Group and The Philadelphia Opera Company.  Click here for the full story

UMMA Concert Series: 6 x 8

On April 2, 2011, 12pm - 4pm The University of Michigan Museum of Art featured six new eight-minute music dramas—with music by graduate composers David Biedenbender, Paul Dooley, Michael Thomas Foumai, Patrick Harlin, Donia Jarrar and Evan Ware, with libretti by MFA students Kate Middleton, Jessica Young, Samiya Bashir, Stephanie Douglas, Nawaaz Ahmed, and Leah Falk.  This project was a collaboration between the University of Michigan's Opera Workshop, Composition Department, Creative Writing Program, and the Museum of Art. The concert was directed by Professor Joshua Major.

Daugherty’s Metropolis Wins Three GRAMMYs

Feb. 13, 2011

Metropolis Symphony, a work by Professor Michael Daugherty and performed by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Giancarlo Guerrero conducting, won three Grammys:  Best Engineered Album, Classical; Best Orchestral Performance; and Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Hear an excerpt from the work, read more about the work from NPR and more about the composer in the Fall 2009 Michigan Muse.

"I am incredibly excited and honored to be recognized by the Grammys," texted Daugherty, who was in LA to accept the award. "I owe so much to all the fantastic musicians I have worked with over the years and those who taught me music as I was growing up back in Cedar Rapids, IA.  . . . it shows what a inspiring place Ann Arbor is for an artist to live and create music, what a great place the University of Michigan is to teach young composers who very well may be here to accept their own Grammy some day!"

Spring Orchestra Concert of Works by Student Composers
Feb. 29, 2011

This spring, the University Philharmonia Orchestra dedicated a concert to only works of current UM composers as they have for many years. The program included works by Harlin, Jarrar, Crosmer, Foumai, Eren, Kern, Bohman and Kalb.

Symphony Band China Tour - May 2011, featuring 4 new works by UM faculty composers

The University of Michigan Symphony Band, led by Michael Haithcock, Director of University Bands, will tour China beginning May 7, 2011 with violin soloist Xiang Gao, following a “bon voyage” concert in Hill Auditorium on Thursday, May 5th. The Symphony Band, comprised of woodwind, brass and percussion instruments, is considered one of the leaders of the modern wind band movement in America. Hailed for its “breathtaking precision and detailed, polished, and expressive phrasing,” (American Record Guide) the Symphony Band will bring its artistry to Hangzhou, Shanghai, Xi'an, Shenyang, Beijing and Tianjin, before presenting a “welcome home” performance in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 29th in Los Angeles with an event presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The Symphony Band’s tour repertoire features premieres of new works by U-M composition faculty William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty, Kristin Kuster, and Bright Sheng. Other works include arrangements of traditional Chinese folk songs, classical works such as the Shostakovich Festive Overture and Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and popular modern works such as themes composed by John Williams’ for the Star Wars movies and George Gershwin’s Rumba.

Three UM composers win 2010 BMI Student Composer Awards

UM composers Paul Dooley, Michael Foumai and Subaram Raman were awarded 2010 BMI Student Composer Awards.

The Student Composer Awards were established in 1951 to encourage young composers in the creation of serious music, and, through cash prizes, to aid in continuing their musical education. Celebrated composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich serves as the Awards Chair; Milton Babbitt is the Chair Emeritus. Composer luminaries such as William Bolcom, George Crumb, Mario Davidovsky, Philip Glass, John Harbison, Aaron Jay Kernis, Donald Martino, Steven Mackey, Christopher Rouse, Joseph Schwantner, Michael Torke and Charles Wuorinen received their earliest recognition through this program.

Spring Orchestra Concert of Works by Student Composers
March 2010

This spring, the University Symphony Orchestra dedicated a concert to only works of current UM composers as they have for several years. The program included works by Subaram Raman, Evan Ware, William Pertz, Roger Zare, Ching-Mei Lin and Ashton Thatcher. The performance was a great success and highly attended.

For the masters and doctoral students, getting to hear their orchestral works and work with musicians on the pieces is a unique opportunity as Roger Zare stated, “It was an incredible learning experience, not just through hearing our orchestrations translated into real sound, but also through the back and forth interactions between us and the conductor and the musicians in the orchestra.” Student Lin also commented that, “The luxurious experience of working with USO is definitely one of the highlights during my studies at Michigan.”

Student composers: (from left to right) Subaram Raman, Evan Ware, Ching-Mei Lin, Ashton Thatcher, William Pertz, Roger Zare

Joseph Schwantner Guest Residency
On Nov 19th Pulitzer prize-winning composer Joseph Schwantner was in residence with the UM Composition Department in conjunction with the Ford made in America program. Schwantner’s time in Michigan culminated with the premiere of his piece Chasing Light, performed by the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Nan Washburn.

During this residency Schwantner met informally with students and presented a seminar on his music. Students were invited to attend both the dress rehearsal and performance, and had the opportunity to watch Schwantner work with the orchestra, and to benefit from his generous advice about how to build a career in music.

(From left to right) Joseph Schwantner, composer James Aikman, conductor Nan Washburn, faculty Evan Chambers, and UM alum Lisa Raschiatore

ONCE. MORE 2010 Announced
On April 28, 2009, The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the Institute of Humanities announced a three-day festival and conference entitled ONCE. MORE to take place November 2-4, 2010 at Rackham Auditorium, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. From 1961 to 1966, the ONCE Festival, which was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was a small artist-run event that had a huge impact on the American contemporary music scene. ONCE. MORE will celebrate the pioneering contributions of the five original ONCE composers: Robert Ashley, Gordon Mumma, Roger Reynolds, Donald Scarvada and the late George Cacioppo.

Please look for the upcoming ONCE. MORE section on UM Composition Department website.

Leonard Slatkin and Detroit Symphony Read UM Student Compositions
On March 27 and 28, 2009, Maestro Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra devoted two full rehearsals to reading and recording student compositions from the UM Composition Department. Seven students were chosen for the event: Paul Dooley, Ching-Mei Lin, Daniel Davis, Recep Gul, David Biedenbender, Theresa Martin, and Lembit Beecher.

Each student’s work was read and rehearsed, and Maestro Slatkin took time to give suggestions, and workshop sections of the compositions. The events, which took place at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, were attended by the entire composition department. This was a tremendous opportunity for our students, and constituted a significant gift of resources from the DSO.

Many thanks to Maestro Slatkin and the orchestra musicians and staff for their generosity, expertise, and enthusiasm during the readings.

from left to right: Recep Gul, Erik Santos, Ching-mei Lin, Lembit Beecher, Evan Chambers, Leonard Slatkin, Dan Davis, David Biedenbender, Theresa Martin and Paul Dooley