Chorus + Organ
Sunday, February 22, 2009
- Andrea Clearfield, composer
- Debussy Trio
- Christoph Bull, Organ
- Nico Muhly, composer
- Steven Sametz, composer
Andrea Clearfield, composer
Andrea Clearfield's compositions for chorus, orchestra, instrumental and vocal soloists and mixed chamber ensembles are performed internationally. Her recent commissions include works for The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra 2001, Network for New Music, The Debussy Trio, Dolce Suono Chamber Music Series, the Mendelssohn Club and the Turtle Creek Chorale. She has been praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for her "virtuosity," "compositional wizardry" and "mastery with large choral and instrumental forces".
She has received grants and awards from ASCAP, the NEA, The Leeway Foundation, the American Music Center, the American Composers Forum, the International Alliance for Women in Music, the Independence Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She has been awarded fellowships at Yaddo, where she has held the Aaron Copland Residency for an American Composer, as well as the MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Center, Ucross, Ragdale, the Helen Wurlitzer Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, among others.
A native of Philadelphia, Dr. Clearfield received a D.M.A. in composition from Temple University. She serves on the composition faculty at The University of the Arts and is also the host and founder of the Philadelphia Salon concert series featuring contemporary, classical, jazz, electronic and world music, now celebrating its 22nd Year.
The Debussy Trio
Marcia Dickstein, harp; Angela Wiegand, flute; David Walther, viola
Audiences are captivated by the dynamic expressive performances of The Debussy Trio, specializing in 20th and 21st century music. Celebrating their 20th Anniversary, harpist Marcia Dickstein, flutist Angela Wiegand and violist David Walther together have performed nationwide tours in 37 states, as well as countless community outreach programs. Internationally, they have appeared at Festivals in Copenhagen, Geneva and Prague and have been recognized by Gramophone Magazine of London.
Learn more at www.debussytrio.com.
Christoph Bull, organ
Hometown: Mannheim, Germany
Current position: University Organist and organ professor at UCLA
Last LAMC appearances: 2007 Holiday Wonders and Rejoice concerts
Previous LA engagements: Royce Hall, First Congregational Church, Whisky A Go Go, The Viper Room, Cinespace, Hotel Café
Other engagements: opened for Cindy Lauper with violin player Lili Hayden; performed in India with sitar player Nishat Khan; in 2004, a featured recitalist and workshop presenter at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists
Awards: 2007 ASCAPlus Award for concert programming
Other projects: Conceived his concert and CD series organica in 1999 to showcase the many facets of the pipe organ, from traditional organ repertoire to original arrangements of popular and film music.
Other interests: has run in three LA Marathons
Nico Muhly, composer
Nico Muhly was born in Vermont in 1981 and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from Columbia University in 2003 with a degree in English Literature and received a Masters in Music from the Julliard School one year later.
Since receiving his degrees, he has amassed a string of commissions, collaborations, and premieres that would be notable for a composer twice his age. He has written orchestral pieces for the Boston Pops, the Chicago Symphony MusicNOW, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Julliard Orchestra, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Orchestra, and the American Ballet Theatre (for choreographer Benjamin Millepied). His works have been premiered on the BBC and at New York’s St. Thomas Church, Carnegie Hall, the Whitney Museum and the New York Public Library – the latter, a special collaboration with designer/illustrator Maira Kalman in honor of her illustrated edition of The Elements of Style.
Muhly has worked extensively with Philip Glass as editor, keyboardist, and conductor for numerous film and stage projects, and contributed to projects by a striking constellation of pop figures, among them Rufus Wainwright, Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), Björk, Teitur, Will Oldham, and The National. These many personal connections highlight one of the more important aspects of Muhly’s musical life – in a word, community.
Link to Nico website -- www.nicomuhly.com
Steven Sametz, composer
Steven Sametz is the Ronald J. Ulrich Professor of Music and director of Lehigh University Choral Arts, one of the country's premiere choral programs. He also serves as Artistic Director for the elite a cappella ensemble The Princeton Singers and is the founding director of The Lehigh University Choral Composer Forum, which mentors emerging choral composers. Sametz has received commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Santa Fe music festival, among others, creating new works for Chanticleer, the Dale Warland Singers, Philadelphia Singers, Pro Arte Chamber Choir and the King of Thailand.