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American Composers Alliance

As a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting contemporary music, ACA is a publisher-affiliate of BMI, archivist, and concert presenter, with a history dating to 1937. Our catalog of works is one of the most unique and diverse collections of American music in the United States and includes compositions from the early 1900s to the present day by such composers as Miriam Gideon, Robert Helps, Otto Luening, Daniel Pinkham, Dane Rudhyar, Halsey Stevens, Joan Tower, Vladimir Ussachevsky,  Charles Wuorinen, and many others.

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Earle Brown's Contemporary Sound Series, Box II, wins German Music Critics Award

Recorded between 1960 and 1973, the original eighteen LPs of Earle Brown’s legendary Contemporary Sound Series have been highly sought after in the secondary market since 1978 when they were discontinued. These rare and historically important recordings of international avant-garde music have been carefully digitized and remastered by the Earle Brown Music Foundation. The complete series is being released by WERGO in six CD boxed sets. For a complete list of the winners, click here. For more information about what's happening at the Earle Brown Music Foundation, or to sign up for the EBMF Newsletter, click here.

BGSU Trustees honor composer Burton Beerman as Distringuished Artist Professor

In his nearly 40 years at the BGSU College of Musical Arts, Burton Beerman has helped make Bowling Green synonymous with new and experimental music. His own pieces have been performed around the world and have influenced a generation of composers and performance artists.

On Feb. 26, BGSU recognized him as a Distinguished Artist Professor. Conferred by the board of trustees, the designation recognizes professors who have earned national and international recognition through research and publication or creative and artistic achievement. Read more

New York Composers Circle to feature John Eaton, Brian Fennelly, Richard Brooks

Date: 
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 7:30pm

John Eaton 75th Birthday Concert to be presented by the New York Composers Circle, featuring the No Borders Quartet. Music by John Eaton, Patricia Leonard, Dinu Ghezzo, Dana Richardson, Brian Fennelly, Richard Brooks, Mauro Porro, and John de Clef Pinero will be presented at Loenard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 95th Street and Broadway, New York City. The No Borders Quartet features Alessandro Roselletti, piano; Andrea Biagini, flute; Michele Bianchini, saxophone, and Guido Arbonelli, clarinet. Tickets $15 in advance through Symphony Space; $20 day of concert;

Humboldt Brass Chamber Music Workshop Announces 2010 Composition Contest Prizewinners

Tony Clements, Director of the Humboldt Brass Chamber Music Workshop at Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA, announced the 2010 Composition Contest winners on Monday, February 15, 2010.

John W. N. Palmer from Kingston, Ontario, Canada won the first place prize of US$2000 with his sextet titled “Neo-Baroque Suite.” Leon Steward, of Castroville, TX, took second place, winning US$1000 for “The Invasion of America.” The US$500 third place prize was awarded to James Joannesson Kopf of Washington, CA, for “The Rupert Suite.” Peter Felice, of Monticello, IN received Honorable Mention recognition for “Stages of Tragedy.”

Matthew McCright, piano, plays world premiere of Ken Steen's 3 situations for piano and fixed media

Date: 
Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 8:00pm

Pianist Matthew McCright presents the New York première of Traces by Augusta Read Thomas, a work that blends the styles of jazz icons with the great composers of. McCright will also perform Thomas’s 6 Piano Etudes, the world première of Ken Steen’s 3 Situations for piano and fixed media, and the virtuosic sweep of the Four North American Ballads by Frederic Rzewski. Composers Augusta Read Thomas and Ken Steen will take part in pre-performance discussions.

 

North River music
Renee Weiler Concert Hall
46 Barrow Street
New York, New York
Thursday, March 18, 2010  8pm
$15/$10

The Book of Imaginary Beings, by Robert Parris, to be performed by the 21st-Century Consort, Washington DC

Date: 
Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 5:00pm

The 21st Century Consort, new music ensemble-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution for 3 decades, embarks on its third season at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium.

The third concert of their 2009-10 season, FLORA and FAUNA, features music by Kaija Saariaho, Scott Wheeler, Evan Chambers, and The Book of Imaginary Beings, composed by Robert Parris in 1972, based on the literary work by Jorge Luis Borges. 

Led by artistic director Christopher Kendall and featuring some of Washington’s finest chamber musicans, including Sara Stern, Paul Cigan, Gabrielle Finck, Lisa Emenheiser, Tom Jones, Elisabeth Adkins, Rachel Young, and Rick Barber, along with acclaimed guest vocalists Lucy Shelton and William Sharp and others, the Consort presents the riveting and resonant music of our time.

Composer: 

America's first indigenous opera: TREEMONISHA by Scott Joplin, arranged and orchestrated by TJ Anderson

Date: 
Friday, February 19, 2010 - 8:00pm
Date: 
Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 8:00pm

Treemonisha performance: courtesy of Trilogy, An Opera Company, 2009Treemonisha performance: courtesy of Trilogy, An Opera Company, 2009Scott Joplin's TREEMONISHA
Feb 19-21, 26-28; Mar 5-7

The Washington Savoyards brings Scott Joplin’s 1910 opera Treemonisha back to Washington for the first time since it was performed during the Kennedy Center’s celebration of the Bicentennial in 1976. This rarely performed opera—which was never performed during Joplin’s lifetime—is a superb piece of American operatic literature which draws on African American traditions for both its story and its music, but is also deeply influenced by classical opera. Joplin posthumously received the Pulitzer Prize 1976 for his contributions to American music .

Composers Recordings, Inc. LP Catalog Now Being Made Available by New World Records

For Immediate Release                                                       February 2010

Composers Recordings, Inc. LP Catalog Now Being Made Available by New World Records

First Batch of Unissued CRI LPs Now Available as On-demand CD-Rs

Fulfilling its promise to make the entire CRI catalog available again, New World Records is pleased to announce the availability of the first batch of digitized CRI LPs as premium-quality on-demand CD-Rs, including the original liner notes. Twenty titles, including music by Charles Amirkhanian, Jack Beeson, Easley Blackwood, Julian Carrillo, Theodore Chanler, Mario Davidovsky, Robert Erickson, Ben Johnston, Kenneth Gaburo, John Melby, Quincy Porter, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Robert Ward comprise the first set of releases,

Ussachevsky Festival Concert

Date: 
Saturday, February 6, 2010 - 8:30pm

It's the 18th Annual Ussachevsky Electronic Music Festival Concert!

Shakuhachi! Percussion! Cello! Video! Loudspeakers!

Javier Alvarez: Temazcal for maracas and electronics
Bill Alves: Inyo for shakuhachi and electronics
John Cage: Ryoanji for shakuhachi and electronics
Tom Flaherty: Shepard's Pi for toy piano and electronics
Mary Jane Leach: Bach's Set for solo cello and 8 prerecorded cellos
Dennis Miller: Faktura for video
Maurice Wright: GENIS for video


Performed by Genevieve Feiwen Lee, toy piano Theresa Dimond, maracas Tom Flaherty, cello Rachel Rudich, flute Bill Alves, percussion Saturday, February 6 at 8:00 PM Lyman Hall, Pomona College 340 N. College Ave. Claremont, California Admission Free

http://www.music.pomona.edu/fliers/UssachevskyFestivalFlier.pdf


Reception at Tom and Cindy's afterwards! Come eat!

Lawrence Dillon's "Schumann Trilogy" to be premiered at REDCAT in Los Angeles by the Idyllwild Symphony Orchestra

Date: 
Sunday, May 9, 2010 - 5:00pm
Lawrence Dillon's "Schumann Trilogy" premiered at REDCAT in Los Angeles by the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra, Peter Askim, Music Director.

Emerson String Quartet gives US Premiere of Lawrence Dillon's String Quartet No. 5: Through the Night

Date: 
Saturday, April 10, 2010 - 7:30pm
On Saturday, April 10, 2010, The Emerson String Quartet gives the US Premiere of Lawrence Dillon's String Quartet No. 5: Through the Night in Watson Hall at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Piotr Szewczyk performs Lawrence Dillon's Mister Blister

Date: 
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 (All day)
Piotr Szewczyk performs Lawrence Dillon's Mister Blister - a 3-minute presto for solo violin - at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

World premiere of Lawrence Dillon's "Genealogie" given by nu ensemble, conducted by Ransom Wilson

Date: 
Friday, February 5, 2010 - 7:30pm
The nu ensemble, under the baton of Ransom Wilson, gives the world premiere of Lawrence Dillon's "Genealogie" for actor, three singers and six instruments in Watson Hall at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Philadelphia premiere of Lawrence Dillon's String Quartet No. 4: The Infinite Sphere

Date: 
Sunday, January 31, 2010 - 3:00pm
Daedalus String Quartet performs Philadelphia premiere of Lawrence Dillon's "String Quartet No. 4: The Infinite Sphere" at the University of Pennsylvania's Irvine Auditorium. 

KHOJ, The Search for Light, by Jan Gilbert

Date: 
Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 8:00pm

KHOJ, THE SEARCH FOR LIGHT for orchestra and narrator, to be performed Saturday, March 13, 2010 at the Scottish Rite Center in Milwaukee. The Concord Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jamin Hoffman, will be performing. 

Khoj is a series of miniatures for orchestra and narrator illustrating the text of Asian Indian story teller and author Gita Kar. The Hindi word 'khoj' means 'the wonder of discovery.'

Composer: