Recent Awards (list from the past decade)
Archive of previous newsletters
March 2023 Newsletter
Alumni News |
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Brendan Faegre’s (MM ’10) Bathtub Music Goes Viral At the end of December, Bathtub Music – Part 1 went viral on TikTok. This 20 second video of Faegre drumming in a bathtub now has over 4.5 million views and 19,000 hours of watch time. It even made its way in front of FINNEAS (Billie Eilish’s brother/co-writer/producer) who commented that it was “outrageous.” |
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David DeBoor Canfield (MM ’77, DM ’83) the Subject of a Third Dissertation David DeBoor Canfield’s music is the focus of a new doctoral dissertation by a student at the University of Iowa, and will focus on his “After” works, a series of thus far 19 pieces written in the style of well-known composers who never wrote works for certain instruments. The student, Jason Laczkowski, will visit Canfield for several days this month to do research in his files and scores, and record an extensive interview with him. Two previous dissertations have been written on Canfield’s music by students in Thailand and Ukraine. Canfield also is currently fulfilling a commission by Sinfonia da Camera for a new orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the writing of the work in 1874. |
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Francisco Cortés-Álvarez’s (MM ’11, DM ’16) La Serpiente de Colores Programmed for Second Time with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic Francisco Cortés-Álvarez’s La Serpiente de Colores (2022) will be performed again by Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel on July 18, 2023 at the Hollywood Bowl along with Concierto de Otoño by Arturo Márquez and a performance of Estancia by Carlos Ginastera with dance group Grupo Corpo. This piece was commissioned as part of the LAPhil Pan-American Music Initiative and premiered on May 27, 2022 by Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil at the Walt Disney Hall. |
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Juilliard Orchestra Plays New Music by Ben Rieke Projections, by Ben Rieke, will be performed by the Juilliard Orchestra on March 27th, 7:30 PM EST. The concert, also featuring three pieces from other student composers, will be livestreamed here. |
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Nickitas Demos (MM ’89) Recognized with Special Distinction in ASCAP Foundation Nissim Prize The ASCAP Foundation recognized Nickitas Demos with special distinction in the 43rd annual ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize for his Three Soundscapes for Symphonic Winds. |
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Tyler Taylor (DM ’20) Louisville Orchestra Premiere and Young Composers Recital During Tyler’s residency with the Louisville Orchestra he led a five week composition workshop in Jefferson Country Public Schools for students grades 4-12. During the course of the workshop, Tyler guided students through the process of writing pieces for musicians from the Louisville Orchestra to perform. Musicians were present during the workshops to provide feedback, introduce their instruments, and demo the students’ pieces. These pieces will be performed on the LO’s “Making Music” Concert Series and subsequently on a recital on 3/20 that is free and open to the public. Tyler’s newest work Revisions, also commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra, will be premiered on 3/10 and 3/11 during the “Festival of American Music” at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. The piece is for large symphony orchestra including triple winds and a full section of saxophones. The piece uses the historical relationship between the saxophone and the orchestra as its primary source of drama and inspiration. More specifically, this relationship is used to create a broad analogy for social-political ideas that influence much of his work. |
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Texu Kim (DM ’15) Upcoming Premieres of Ritus Sanitatem The Verona Quartet (Quartet-in-Residence at Oberlin, formed at IU) will do world premieres of Ritus Sanitatem (“rite of healing,” translated from Latin) by Texu Kim in Austin, TX, on Fri 3/3/2023, and in Washington, DC, on Thu 3/9/2023. The piece reflects the composer’s contemplation of various Korean folk-healing traditions. It is co-commissioned by the Texas Performing Arts at UT Austin and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in honor of its 2023 centennial. |
Student News |
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Alex Tedrow Commission, New Film Score, and Festival Performances Amidst a busy student teaching schedule at Pike High School, Alex Tedrow (M.M.) has been working on many exciting new projects. In late April, the IU Young Winds program will premier a new commissioned piece, Flickers, written for local Bloomington middle school band students. The piece explores aleatory, improvisation, and electronics within a context that is intended to be approachable and educational for young musicians. Tedrow was also recently hired to score an upcoming PBS feature documentary, Over There: Hoosier Heroes of the Great War, which will feature local Bloomington performers and arrangements of music written by Hoosier composers. His recent piece, Jeat, for saxophone duet and electronics will be featured at Electronic Music Midwest Festival (EMM) and the 2023 SEAMUS National Conference. |
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Daixuan Ai National Orchestral Institute 2023 Composition Fellowship Daixuan Ai was selected as one of the three composition fellows at the National Orchestral Institute and Festival, which will take place during the week of June 25 to July 2 at the University of Maryland. Each fellow receives a commission to write a 10-minute work for sinfonietta which will be rehearsed by two NOI+F conducting fellows under the guidance of NOI+F Music Director Marin Alsop and James Ross. Daixuan will also be working with composition faculty including Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis, Jennifer Higdon, and Wang Jie. |
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Kian Ravaei Commissions and Performances Chamber Music Northwest, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and Seattle Chamber Music Society have co-commissioned Kian Ravaei to compose a large-scale string quartet, which will be performed at each festival this summer. Ravaei has also been commissioned to compose a song cycle for mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron at Chamber Music Northwest, where he will serve as their Protégé Project composer-in-residence. Ravaei’s performances this month include Outcry for solo violin at the Electronic Music Midwest Festival, Family Photos for string quartet at the March 20 Kuttner Quartet recital, excerpts from The Little Things for string quartet at the RED NOTE New Music Festival, and Blue for chorus and ensemble at the March 31 NOTUS concert. |
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Faculty News |
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Don Freund Performances The Canone Quartet (this year’s Jacobs School Kuttner Quartet) will present a program in Auer Hall on Monday, March 20 comprised of works by three Jacobs composers: Kian Ravaei’s Family Photos, Walker Smith’s D (winner of the 2023 Kuttner Quartet Composition Competition), and the premiere of Don Freund Quartet #5 “Kaleidoscope Eyes.” The Vinola Trio is presenting a Faculty/Guest Recital in Auer on March 26, featuring Don Freund’s Triomusic and Jacobs Alum Stefan Freund’s Triodances. On March 25, the Bloomington Chamber Singers will present the premiere of Don Freund’s Dr. King’s Garment of Destiny. |
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Upcoming Events |
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(* Starred events are REQUIRED for IU composition students) |