Henryk Mikolaj Górecki, composer
Born: December 6, 1933 in Silesia, Poland
Studies: Composition with Boleslaw Szabelski at the State Higher School of Music (PWSM) in Katowice, 1955–1960
Assignments: Professor of composition and Rector at the PWSM, 1975–1979
On the world scene: The phenomenal success of his Symphony No. 3 (Gramophone’s “Best-selling CD in 1993”) astounded many of his contemporaries, especially in Poland, where the work had been known for more than a decade.
About creating: “Composing is a terribly personal matter: the overcoming of difficulties, gaining knowledge, deciding upon a certain order, a certain method of constructing a new piece. This is important. You have to chose your way, you have to pick a proper path from an infinite number of possibilities. What do I do? “Music begins with sound. It is always based on some musical association, a musical theme or a structure. When composing I always begin with introducing some order. I have many things prepared much, much earlier than I begin to compose a piece. In this way I have researched and analyzed the possibilities provided by my materials. However, many pieces that I had worked on have never been finished. I only ordered the materials.”
Morten Lauridsen, composer
Born: February 27, 1943, in Colfax, Washington, raised in Portland, Oregon
At the Chorale: Composer-in-Residence, 1994–2001
Currently: Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music since 1967; Chair of the Composition Department, 1990–2002
Compositions include six vocal cycles — Les Chansons des Roses (Rilke), Mid-Winter Songs (Graves), Cuatro Canciones (Lorca), A Winter Come (Moss), Madrigali: Six “FireSongs” on Renaissance Italian Poems, Lux Aeterna
Sacred a cappella motets — O Magnum Mysterium, Ave Maria, O Nata Lux, Ubi Caritas et Amor, Ave Dulcissima Maria
Praise: “the only American composer in history who can be called a mystic (whose) probing, serene work contains an elusive and indefinable ingredient which leaves the impression that all the questions have been answered... From 1993 Lauridsen’s music rapidly increased in international popularity, and by century’s end he had eclipsed Randall Thompson as the most frequently performed American choral composer.” — Nick Strimple, Choral Music in the Twentieth Century
On disc: Over 100 CDs, including the Grammy-nominated Lauridsen–Lux Aeterna by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by Paul Salamunovich
David O, composer
Known to thousands of Los Angeles children as “The Professor,” as composer and performer in The Voyage of the Global Harmony, part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Summersounds at the Hollywood Bowl”
Currently: composing music for The Trial of Persephone, a new musical with an upcoming reading at New York Theatre Workshop.
Recent compositions: score for The Legend of Alex (called “an entertaining, muscular new musical” by the Los Angeles Times), commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum’s P.L.A.Y. Program.
Original work presented at: Mark Taper Forum, the Getty Museum, the Actors' Gang, Theatre Banshee, Theatre of N.O.T.E., and countless other Southern California venues
Musical director: [Inside] the Ford, A Noise Within, Shakespeare Festival LA , the Actors’ Co-Op, Falcon Theatre
Awards: Garland award for musical direction of the world premiere production of The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World; Nominated for LA Drama Critics Circle
At the Chorale: Teaching artist with Voices Within educational outreach program
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