Vol. 18, No. 9	Oct. 29, 1998

Winning composers at contemporary music fest

Winning composers in the annual Regional Composers Competition, sponsored by the Department of Music, will be featured guests at the 1998 New Music Delaware Festival of Contemporary Music, to be held Nov. 10-11 on the campus.

The two-night festival features free performances of the winning composers' works by UD faculty and students, as well as an end-of-the-century concert of music by groundbreaking 20th-century composers. Both free concerts begin at 8 p.m. in the Loudis Recital Hall of the Amy E. du Pont Music Building.

Nearly 100 composers from an eight-state region entered this year's competition, which is designed to encourage the performance of new works by American composers and is partially funded by a grant from Meet-the-Composers.

This year's winners range from an undergraduate student at the Eastman School of Music to the associate dean of the Yale School of Music. All four composers will appear in a roundtable discussion of their works at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 10, preceding the performance of their award-winning works. A meet-the-composers reception will follow.

Shafer Mahoney, an assistant professor at Hunter College, has won numerous awards, including two from Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) and the Morton Gould award from the American Society of Composers, Arrangers and Performers (ASCAP). His works have been performed across North America. The UD Wind Ensemble, directed by Robert Streckfuss, with solo flutist Jenni Janson, will play his winning piece, Fast Forward.

John Orfe is completing dual bachelor's degrees in music at Eastman School of Music and in religion at the University of Rochester. Despite his youth, he already has won several awards for composition, including the William Schuman and Bordieaux Bryant Prizes from BMI. Harvey Price, Tom Palmer and James Ancona will perform Dragon, his piece for percussion trio.

Virginia native Aaron Rosenthal is a candidate for a master of music degree in composition at Rice University. The winner of numerous awards, including the ASCAP Award for Young Composers, he was commissioned to write Voices of Terezin in honor of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Terezinstadt following World War II. The Delaware Brass will perform his winning Brass Quintet.

Thomas Duffy is director of bands and associate dean at Yale University School of Music. He studied composition with Karel Husa and Steven Stucky, and his music has been recorded and performed widely. His humorous piece for chamber ensemble, Three Short-Stemmed Red Ruses, will be performed by UD faculty Eileen Grycky, flute; Lloyd Shorter, oboe; Charles Salinger, clarinet; Jon Gaarder, bassoon; David Myford, violin; and Charles Forbes, cello.

At 8 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 11, "The Century Wraps"-the third in a four-year, end-of-the-century series of concerts featuring noteworthy 20th-century works-will be presented. Included in the program are Schoenberg's first symphony in the Webern chamber arrangement, The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives and Benjamin Britten's Metamorphoses after Ovid for Solo Oboe.

For information, call 831-2577.