Recent Awards (list from the past decade)
Archive of previous newsletters
April 2022 Newsletter
Alumni News |
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Two Premieres and a CD Release for Keith Fitch (BM ’89, MM ’92, DM ’95) Keith Fitch recently received two premieres. His Alee, commissioned by the Cleveland Institute of Music in celebration of its centennial, was premiered by the CIM Orchestra, Carlos Kalmar conducting, at Severance Hall, Cleveland. Additionally, his Three English Sonnets (solo flute/alto flute) was premiered by flutist Mary Kay Fink of The Cleveland Orchestra. His as Earth dreams, commissioned by harpist Yolanda Kondonassis for her Five Minutes for Earth project was released on the CD of the same name by Azica Records. More information about Five Minutes for Earth and Kondonassis’ Earth at Heart Foundation can be found here. |
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Fresno Philharmonic premieres Kenneth Froelich’s (MM ’01, DM ’04) Clarinet Concerto MELT On March 12th, 2022, the Fresno Philharmonic – under the direction of conductor Rei Hotoda – premiered Kenneth Froelich’s composition MELT: Concerto for Clarinet. The premiere featured IU Alumnus Jorge Montilla on clarinet. The Munro Review (a Fresno-area arts blog) did a complete write-up on the concerto which you can read here. Kenneth currently serves as a Professor of Music (Composition) at Fresno State, and Jorge serves as Clarinet Professor at the University of Iowa. |
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Dal Niente Commission for Louis Goldford (MM ’14) Louis Goldford (MM 2014) was commissioned by Chicago’s Ensemble Dal Niente, having recently been named a recipient of a Fromm Commission from Harvard University. The award will be used to compose a major new work for Ensemble Dal Niente to be premiered in 2023. Additionally, Louis will have a new work for ensemble and electronics premiered this April by the International Contemporary Ensemble and soprano Alice Teyssier at New York City’s DiMenna Center for Classical Music. |
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Los Angeles Philharmonic Premieres Ricardo Lorenz’s (BM ’84, MM ’87) New Commissioned Work. Ricardo Lorenz was commissioned a new work by the LA Philharmonic as part of its Pan-American Music Initiative. The new work titled Todo Terreno, Spanish for “all terrain” or “off-road,” will be premiered by the LA Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel on May 12, 2022 at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall. |
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Dr. Benjamin Taylor (DM ’14) appointed Program Director for Jacobs Composition Academy Dr. Benjamin Taylor has accepted the position of Program Director for the newly formed Jacobs Composition Academy. Additional program faculty include current IU graduate students Daixuan Ai, Corey Chang, Ben Yee-Paulson, Robert Rankin, and Alex Tedrow. Jacobs Composition Academy is a virtual music composition program for aspiring composers of all ages. Offering private composition lessons, weekly masterclasses, and a recording of student works by IU performers, this program is designed for students preparing a composition portfolio for college auditions or an adult musician who has always wanted to explore the craft of composing. Dr. Taylor is working closely with Dr. Freund, the founder and creator of the program, to provide instruction in music composition at a high level to students around the world. |
Student News |
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Durham Symphony Orchestra Premieres Robert Rankin’s No Name In The Street On April 10th, the Durham Symphony Orchestra and music director William Henry Curry will perform the world premiere of Robert Rankin’s No Name In The Street. Based in part off of the history of Durham’s historic Hayti district, the piece explores how political and social factors drastically changed this community, once referred to as ‘Black Wall Street’ by Booker T Washington, after the end of Reconstruction. The work will be premiered at the Hayti Heritage Center, one of the last surviving buildings in the district. Tickets and more information can be found at the orchestra’s website. |
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Recent performances of Chun-Wai Wong’s music and more Chun-Wai Wong’s orchestral piece On Wings of Soul (aka As the Heart Soars) was recently featured in the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra Concert. Fusing a wide range of musical styles from the East and West that depicts Hong Kong as a multicultural metropolis, the piece was first performed during the Asian Youth Orchestra World Tour. In addition, his piano piece Montage of Metropolitan Dreams was selected as the finalist entry in the NYC Contemporary Music Symposium at Columbia University, 2021. The recording of another piano piece of his, Prelude, was selected by the Po Leung Kuk (a large charitable organization in Hong Kong) as part of their “Chill u Up” project amidst the tense social situation in the city. It represents a re-imagination of Bach’s music and embodies subtle references to some well-known Classical music pieces. For more, please visit here. |
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Faculty News |
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Prof. Aaron Travers Wins Mader Organ Composition Competition Aaron Travers was named the winner of the Ruth and Clarence Mader Memorial Scholarship Fund Composition Competition for his solo organ piece Midnight Toccatas (2021). The award celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Scholarship Fund. There were 42 entrants in the competition across 15 states . The award comes with a prize of $10,000 plus publication of the piece and a premiere performance in Los Angeles, currently scheduled for February 2023. |
Upcoming Events |
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(* Starred events are REQUIRED for IU composition students) |