Brian Fennelly

Biography: 

(Photo 1981, by Bill Hellermann)

Brian Fennelly (1937-2015) studied at Yale with Mel Powell, Donald Martino, Allen Forte, Gunther Schuller and George Perle (M.Mus 1965, Ph.D. 1968). From 1968 to 1997 he was professor of Music in the Faculty of Arts and Science at New York University, and Professor Emeritus until his death in 2015. In addition to a Guggenheim fellowship, his awards include three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and commissions from the Koussevitzky Foundation, Fromm Foundation and Meet the Composer/Reader's Digest as well as from the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra. In 1997 he received a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

His music has been awarded prizes in many competitions, which include the Goffredo Petrassi Competition for Orchestral Music (1993), International Trumpet Guild Competition (First Prize, 1990), the Louisville Orchestra New Music Competition (First Prize, 1986), Shreveport Symphony Competition (1981), and the Premio Citta di Trieste (1981). Over twnty of his works appear on CD, with orchestral and chamber music released on the New World, CRI, Albany, Pro Viva, First Edition, Capstone, and New Ariel labels. Orchestral releases include Fantasy Variations, In Wildness is the Preservation of the World, On Civil Disobedience, and A Sprig of Andromeda, the last three all Thoreau-inspired works. Brian Fennelly's music has been performed by several orchestras including the Rochester Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, and The Louisville Orchestra, as well as by chamber ensembles such as the American and Empire Brass Quintets, and the Concord and Audubon String Quartets.

…

His choral music has been sung by the Gregg Smith Singers and the New York Virtuoso Singers, among others. International performances include two at the Warsaw Autumn (Poland) and four at the ISCM world Music Days (Iceland, Israel, Belgium, and Canada), with recordings by The Louisville Orchestra, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Prague Radio Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Polish Radio National Symphony. Fennelly's music is published by Margun Music (Boston): MMB Music, Inc. (St. Louis), Pro Nova (Munich), Ricordi (Milan), and American Composers Edition (New York). In addition to composing and teaching, he has been active as officer and board member in a number of music organizations; he also co-directs the Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, which he founded in 1976. Fennelly resides in Kingston, New York with his wife Jacqueline, who played French horn with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic for many years. Liam Fennelly,  his son from a previous marriage, is a viola da gamba player now living in Europe.

Brian Fennelly was the 2013 recipient of the Union College Outstanding Engineering Alumnus Award.

With a degree in mechanical engineering from Union College in 1958, Brian Fennelly b. 1937, began his career as an officer in the Air Force, with service in the U. S. and Korea. After receiving a B. A. from Union (1963), he entered Yale on a Woodrow Wilson fellowship, where he studied music composition and theory with Mel Powell, Allen Forte, Gunther Schuller and George Perle (M.Mus 1965, Ph.D. 1968).

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Web Site: 

http://amc.net/brianfennelly

ACE Publications

1 DISTANT CALL (2013)
for solo Trumpet or Flugelhorn

2 DIVISIONS for solo violin (1968)
vln

3 FOR SOLO FLUTE (1964)
flute

4 MAVERICK - Prelude and Tango for guitar (2014)
solo guitar

5 MINIATURES for 2 clarinets (or solo clarinet); see SOCK MONKEYS (1989)
2 cl, or solo cl

6 SIGOL MUSINGS (version for cello) (2005)
solo cello

7 SIGOL MUSINGS for solo violin (2004)
vn

8 SUITE FOR DOUBLEBASS
cb

9 TESSERAE II, Fantasy for Cello (1972)
vcl

10 TESSERAE III (1976)

11 TESSERAE IV/V for solo contrabass trombone or tuba (1980)
solo Cbtbn or Tuba

12 TESSERAE IX for solo percussionist (1981)
marimba, xylophone, temple blocks, snare drum, timbales, bongos, tambourine, bamboo wind chimes, wood wind chimes, 3 brake drums, 2 suspended cymbals, tam-tam, maracas, guiro, cabaza

13 TESSERAE VI, 'Scoria' for solo trumpet (1976)
tpt

14 TESSERAE VII for solo clarinet (1979)
solo Bb clarinet

15 TESSERAE VIII for solo alto saxophone (1980)
al.sax

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Additional Works

Published by EARNESTLY MUSIC

BRASS QUINTET (No. 1)
THREE CHORALE PRELUDES
TWO POEMS OF SHELLEY

Published by ASSOCIATED MUSIC PUBLISHERS INC

QUINTUPLO

Published by UNIVERSAL MUSIC

SPRIG OF ANDROMEDA