FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Nicole Gallego
New Haven Symphony Orchestra
(203) 931-2991
ngallego@newhavensymphony.org
NHSO ANNOUNCES YOUNG COMPOSERS’ PROJECT
NEW HAVEN, CT, August 17, 2009. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce the Connecticut Young Composers’ Project with Music Alive Composer-in-Residence Augusta Read Thomas, a two year endeavor which pairs ten aspiring high school age composers with one of the most honored composers of the modern day.
The young composers will meet with Ms. Thomas three times a year for two years for interactive composing sessions. At the culmination of the project, each student will have their composition premiered by the New Haven Symphony Contemporary Music Group.
Composers (high school freshman, sophomores, and juniors as of Sept. 2009) are encouraged to submit their application no later than September 1. For more information contact Hauk Graham, Education Director at 203-865-0831 or download the application at newhavensymphony.org.
Augusta Read Thomas is one the most honored American composers of her generation. Her orchestral compositions have been performed by the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, to mention only a few.
Ms. Thomas studied composition at Tanglewood, Yale, and the Royal Academy of Music in London. She was Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1997—2006). She has taught at the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago. In 2006, she resigned from teaching to devote herself entirely to composition and, in 2007; her Astral Canticle was one of two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. Her discography includes 43 commercially recorded CDs.
Under the Artistic Direction of its Music Director William Boughton, the 70-member New Haven Symphony Orchestra annually performs a seven concert symphony series, a three concert pops series, and a family series for young children, as well as more than 120 education programs that reach over 30,000 children across Connecticut. Founded in 1894, the NHSO is the fourth oldest symphony orchestra in the nation.
The Residency of Augusta Read Thomas is made possible through Music Alive, a residency program of the League of American Orchestras and Meet the Composer. This national program is designed to provide orchestras with resources and tools to support their presentation of new music to the public and build support for new music within their institutions. Funding for Music Alive is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and The ASCAP Foundation Joseph & Rosalie Meyer Fund.
All programs subject to change without notice.
