American Composers Alliance

In a private ceremony, the Academy of Arts and Letters will present on May 23rd, eighteen recipients of this year’s awards in music, which total $225,000. The winners were selected by a committee of Academy members: Yehudi Wyner (chairman), Samuel Adler, Sebastian Currier, David Rakowski, Melinda Wagner, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. Among this year's award recipients include winners of the Charles Ives' Fellowships and Ives' Scholarships including composers THEO CHANDLER ∙ JONATHAN CZINER ∙ JACK FRERER ∙  ELI GREENHOE ∙ SUNBIN KIM ∙ and PETER S. SHIN.  Harmony Ives, the widow of Charles Ives, bequeathed to the Academy the royalties of Charles Ives’s music, which has enabled the Academy to give awards in composition since 1970.

Ray Luedeke’s Tango Dreams, for accordion and string trio will be performed on May 30 at the Royal Conservatory of Scotland in Glasgow. Accordionist Sarah Alexander will be joined by a Glaswigean string trio. Ray will not be able to hear their actual performance, but will hear a rehearsal on May 23, when he is in Scotland, as part of a month long visit to Great Britain.

Earlier this year, Tango Dreams was performed in Portugal and broadcast on Portuguese radio. Tango Dreams has previously been performed in Canada and in Finland. Last year it was performed at Symphony Space, in a concert featuring world champion accordionist Alex Sevastian. (Sadly, Alex passed away just 2 months ago).