Category: Ledes

Future of Publishing and Music Education Debated plus Awards Announced at MPA Annual Meeting

As in previous years, the annual get together of members of the Music Publishers Association of the United States at the Redbury Hotel in New York City combined a luncheon, legal and copyright updates, lively panel discussions, and an award ceremony, and concluded with a cocktail hour featuring live jazz performed by the John Murchison Trio.

After opening remarks by MPA President Sean Patrick Flahaven of The Musical Co., entertainment, media, copyright and trademark lawyer Corey Field provided the members with a legal update on matters relating to music publishing and copyright. According to Field, there has been a great deal of legislation in the past twelve months related to the interests of music publishers, perhaps the most significant being the August 4, 2016 ruling mandated full work licensing which is still being challenged by ASCAP and BMI since fractional licensing, which has been the standard practice prior to this ruling makes it easier to distribute revenue collected for works that are created by collaborators who are not necessarily members of the same PRO. Field sees this ruling as part of a trend toward greater consolidation in licensing. Yet despite this trend, Field also pointed out that there is now a fourth performing rights organization in the United States (in addition to ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC) named GMR (Global Music Rights). Though GMR boasts representing a mere .006% of the current music marketplace and only 70 members, those members include Bruce Springsteen and Don Henley as well as the estates of Prince and Ira Gershwin.

MPA annual meeting attendees looking at monitor display showing all the legal cases relevant to publishers from the past 12 months.

Corey Field’s powerpoint included a list of all the legal cases from teh past 12 months that had an impact on music pubilshers. There was lots of small print.

Record and music publishing industry veteran Jay R. Morgenstern, who is currently the Executive Vice President/General Manager of Warner Chappell Music Inc. was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Although he was not able to attend, four of his six grandchildren came to the podium to accept the award on his behalf. Immediately following that, the Paul Revere Awards for Graphic Excellence were announced by Brittain Ashford, Administrative Director for the Music Publishers Association. Two scores by Daniel Dorff and two scores by the Argentinian composer Albert Ginastera, whose centenary was celebrated last year, fetched first prize honors, and other publications so honored were scores of works by Charles Ives, Elliott Carter, and Mark Patterson. Among scores receiving second or third prizes for their engraving and overall appearance were works by Michael Daugherty, Aaron Jay Kernis, Paul Moravec, Scott Wollschleger, two compositions by Hannah Lash, and a solo viola sonata that John Harbison composed in his early 20s. As in last year’s awards, there is no longer an award category for “Publications for Electronic Distribution” since at this point publishers can submit digital scores for consideration in any of the other categories.  A complete list of winning publications in the 13 different award categories appears below.

Full Scores
1st Prize – Daniel Dorff: Summer Solstice (Theodore Presser Company)
2nd Prize – Claude Vivier: Liebesgedichte (Boosey & Hawkes)
3rd Prize – Peter J. Wilhousky: Battle Hymn of the Republic (Carl Fischer, LLC)

Chamber Ensembles (scores and parts)
1st Prize – Charles Ives: String Quartet No. 2 (Peermusic Classical)
2nd Prize – Hannah Lash: How to Remember Seeds (Schott Music Corporation)
3rd Prize – Scott Wollschleger: Brontal Symmetry (Schott Music Corporation)

Choral Music
1st Prize – Mark Patterson: Stand with the Brave (Carl Fischer, LLC)
2nd Prize – Benjamin Wegner: He Leadeth Me (ECS Publishing Group)
3rd Prize – Paul Moravec: Mass in D (Subito Music Corporation)

Keyboard Music
1st Prize – Alberto Ginastera: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Boosey & Hawkes)
2nd Prize (tie) –
Jacques Ibert: Histories (Alfred Music)
F. Chopin: Scherzos, opp. 30, 31, 29, 54 (Alfred Music)
3rd Prize – Hannah Lash: Ludus (Schott Music Corporation)

Guitar Music
1st Prize – Chinese Music for Guitar (Hal Leonard)
2nd Prize – The Young Beginner Guitar Method, Christmas Book 3 (The FJH Music Co. Inc.)

Piano-Vocal Music
1st Prize – Alberto Ginastera: Bomarzo, vocal score from the opera (Boosey & Hawkes)
2nd Prize – The Essential Collection for the Church Soloist, Vol. II (Hope Publishing Co.)
3rd Prize – Aaron Jay Kernis: Two Songs: “Love” and “Spirit” (G. Schirmer/Associated Music Publishers)

Solos with Accompaniment
1st Prize – Daniel Dorff: Serenade for flute and harp (Theodore Presser Company)
2nd Prize – Morton Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium for violin and piano (Peermusic Classical)
3rd Prize – Edward Knight: Nevertheless, She Persisted for French horn and piano (Subito Music Corporation)

Solos without Accompaniment
1st Prize – Elliott Carter: Retracings V for solo trombone (Boosey & Hawkes)
2nd Prize – John H. Beck: Encounters for solo timpani (Kendor Music)
3rd Prize – John Harbison: Sonata for Viola Alone (1961) (Gems Music Publications)

Collated Music (Band, Orchestra, or Large Ensemble, Score & Parts)
1st Prize – W. A. Mozart: “Voi Che Sapete” arranged for string orchestra by John Caponegro (Kendor Music)
2nd Prize – Erik Morales: Keepers of the Fire for concert band (The FJH Music Co. Inc.)
3rd Prize – Maurice Jarre: Lawrence of Arabia arranged for concert band by Alfred Reed (Keiser Southern Music)

Cover Design Featuring Photography
1st Prize – Benjamin Whitcomb: Bass Fingerings (Wingert-Jones Publications)
2nd Prize – Michael Daugherty: Bay of Pigs (Hendon Music/Boosey & Hawkes)

Cover Design Featuring Graphic Elements
1st Prize – Frank Battisti: The Conductor’s Challenge (Meredith Music Publications)
2nd Prize (tie) –
John Carter: Jazz Miniatures (ECS Publishing Group)
José Hernández: Canta, Mariachi, Canta! (Hal Leonard)
3rd Prize – Darren Fellows: New Studies for Trumpet (Kendor Music)

Design in Folios: Popular Music
1st Prize – Pearl Jam Anthology, Complete Scores (Hal Leonard)
2nd Prize – Led Zeppelin: The Complete Studio Recordings (Alfred Music)
3rd Prize – My First Gershwin Song Book (Hal Leonard)

Design in Folios: Concert & Educational Music
1st Prize – Endre Granat: The Heifetz Scale Book (Keiser Southern Music)
2nd Prize – Mickey’s Found Sounds (Hal Leonard)

Sheet music scores arranged on a table.

As in previous years, Paul Revere nominated scores were on display.

The engraving judges were Katharina Hoezenecker, Librarian for the Berlin Philharmonic, and Tony Rickard, Music Library Manager for Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. Graphics judges were, as per last year, Mallory Grigg, Art Director at Alloy Entertainment and Nim Ben-Reuven, a freelance designer and graphics editor working primarily in print.

Following the Paul Revere Awards, there were screenings of the 2017 MPA & National Music Council Scholarship Finalists for copyright awareness videos. (You can see last year’s honorees here.)

Jason Varga, Ann Gregg, Jim Frankel, Marcia Neel, and Mendy Varga

Jason Varga, Ann Gregg, Jim Frankel, Marcia Neel, and Mendy Varga

Then Mendy Varga from Kendor Music moderated a discussion about the future of music in public education for which she was joined by Jim Frankel, Ann Gregg, Marcia Neel, and Jason Varga. Marcia Neel spoke about how engaged students in the Southwest are learning mariachi music, claiming that, if we want to keep students interested, “we need to look beyond the traditional trinity of band, choir, and orchestra.” Although panelist Jim Frankel is the head of digital education for the Music Sales Group, he pointed out that the transition from print sheet music to scores displayed on digital monitors is not happening in schools: “There isn’t enough budget for that and there won’t be twenty years from now.” He also acknowledged that “print is awesome in the music classroom.”

Then EAMDC/Schott Promotion Manager Chris Watford, Ian McLoughlin, manager for instrumental product sales and product development at J.W. Pepper, and self-published composer Dennis Tobenski, who runs an online distribution platform for other self publishers called New Music Shelf, participated in a discussion about how the digital realm has transformed the music publishing marketplace. American Composers Alliance Director Gina Genova was also scheduled to participate in this panel but was unable to attend though thankfully she provided detailed answers to all the questions that were distributed to the panel in advance. (Ed note: I served as the moderator for this one.)

5 Female Composers Among 9 Winners of 2017 BMI Student Composer Awards

It’s been only a month since the announcement of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Music for which all three finalists were women. Today, the BMI Foundation (BMIF), in collaboration with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), has also made history with their announcement of the nine young classical composers, ages 14 to 28, who have been named winners of the 65th annual BMI Student Composer Awards. For the first time in the awards’ 65 year history, a majority of the winners (5 of the 9) are female composers. In addition, Lara Poe, is the first woman ever to win the William Schuman Prize (awarded since 1992 for most outstanding score) and Sydney Wang, winner of the Carlos Surinach Prize (awarded since 1999 to the youngest winner of the competition), is only the second woman to be so honored. (Gabrielle Nina Haigh was awarded the Surinach Prize in both 2007 and 2009.)

Composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, who serves as Chair of the Student Composer Awards, BMI President and CEO and BMIF Honorary Chair Mike O’Neill, and Deirdre Chadwick, BMI’s Executive Director of Classical Music as well as BMIF President, presented the awards at a private ceremony held on May 16, 2017 at Three Sixty° in New York City. The 2017 award winning composers and their works are:

Katherine Balch (b. 1991):
Vidi l’angelo nel marmo for soprano and double bass

Aiyana Tedi Braun (b. 1997):
Uncommon Threads for clarinet, cello and piano

Aaron Cecchini-Butler (b. 1992):
Wayward Pine: sanctum / sawdust / ember / pitch for string quartet,
objects and electronics

Daniel James Miller (b. 1989):
Plumage for chamber orchestra

Lara Poe (b. 1993):
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

Matthew Schultheis (b. 1997):
Suibokuga for flute (doubling piccolo and alto flute), clarinet in A, viola,
and percussion

Annika K. Socolofsky (b. 1990):
One Wish, Your Honey Lips for flute quartet (four C flutes)

Sydney Wang (b. 2002):
Tales from the Sea (A Symphony in Four Movements) for full orchestra

Justin Zeitlinger (b. 2000):
…dal nulla… for full orchestra

2017 BMI Student Composer Award Winners

The 9 winners of the 2017 BMI Student Composer Awards. Top row (from left to right): Lara Poe, Katherine Balch, Justin Zeitlinger, Daniel James Miller;
bottom row (from left to right): Aiyana Tedi Braun, Sydney Wang, Aaron Cecchini-Butler, Matthew Schultheis, and Annika K. Socolofsky

The celebratory evening included a PUBLIQuartet performance of Justin Zeitlinger’s Miniatures for Two Violins, a work that received a BMI Student Composer Award last year. (Zeitlinger, who was also last year’s Surinach honoree, and Miller are the only 2017 awardees who have previously received the BMI Student Composer Award, both in 2016. The maximum number of times a composer can receive the award is now three; early in the awards’ history there were two four-time winners: David Ward Steinman–in 1954, 1954, 1959, and 1960–and Charles Wuorinen in 1959, 1961, 1962, and 1963.)

The BMI Student Composer Awards recognize superior musical compositional ability with annual educational scholarships totaling $20,000. In 2017, nearly 700 online applications were submitted to the competition from students throughout the Western Hemisphere, and all works were judged anonymously. The adjudication process for the BMI Student Composer Awards involves two separate panels, both of which are comprised of BMI affiliated composers. Alexandra du Bois, Jeremy Gill, Shawn Jaeger, and David Schober served as the preliminary panelists this year. Steven Mackey, Cindy McTee, James Primosch, and Roger Reynolds served on the final jury. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is the permanent Chair of the competition.

30 Fellows Selected for Inaugural Blackbird Creative Lab

In addition to award winning and boundary breaking, Eighth Blackbird is adding some serious mentoring to their activities. Thirty early-career musicians have been chosen to receive fellowships to the Blackbird Creative Lab, a newly launched two-week summer training program taking place Ojai, California, this June. The selected fellows will focus on the process of creating new work, including “developing a performance aesthetic, nurturing one’s curatorial vision, and building an entrepreneurial foundation,” all of which will culminate in a pair of public concerts, June 23 and 24, at the Besant Hill School’s Zalk Theater.

In addition to Eighth Blackbird ensemble members, the faculty will include composers Jennifer Higdon and Ted Hearne, as well as director/filmmaker Mark DeChiazza. During the session, an array of guest artists will complement the faculty: composer Steve Reich, composer/performer Pamela Z, flutist/composer Ned McGowan, and from the Ojai Music Festival, curator Tom Morris and producer Elaine Martone, who also serves as director of the Blackbird Creative Lab.

More than 200 candidates applied from around the world; the 30 selected will attend tuition-free, inclusive of room and board.

They are:

Justine Aronson, soprano
Erika Boysen, flute
Dan Caputo, composer
Danny Clay, composer
Viet Cuong, composer
Jordan Curcuruto, percussion
Fjóla Evans, composer
Robert Fleitz, piano
Bryan Hayslett, cello
Molly Herron, composer
Invoke, string quartet
Molly Joyce, composer
Matt Keown, percussion
Tamara Kohler, flute
Sammy Lesnick, clarinet
Kaylie Melville, percussion
Benjamin Mitchell, clarinet
Kate Outterbridge, violin
Passepartout Duo, piano + percussion duo
Evan Saddler, percussion
Jeff Stern, percussion
Michiko Theurer, violin
Dylan Ward, saxophone
Aaron Wolff, cello
Phoebe Wu, piano
Jocelyn Zelasko, soprano

Read more about the Blackbird Creative Lab and the inaugural class of fellows here.

Du Yun Awarded 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music

Angel’s Bone by Du Yun has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music. The annually awarded $10,000 prize is for a distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the previous year. Angel’s Bone, which features a libretto by Royce Vavrek, received its premiere on January 6, 2016, at the Prototype Festival, 3LD Arts and Technology Center, New York City. The Pulitzer jury described it as “a bold operatic work that integrates vocal and instrumental elements and a wide range of styles into a harrowing allegory for human trafficking in the modern world.”

Here is Abigail Fischer singing Mrs. X.E.’s Mirror Scene from the opera:

Here is what Du Yun posted on Facebook upon learning she had received the award:

In 2014, NewMusicBox did a Spotlight of Du Yun in which she talked about Angel’s Bone and her other compositions.

Also nominated as finalists for the 2017 music prize were: Bound to the Bow by Ashley Fure which premiered on June 5, 2016 in David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City; and Ipsa Dixit by Kate Soper which premiered on December 9, 2016 at The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. For the first time in the history of the prizes, all three music finalists were women and all three were under 40 years old.

The jury for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize was: Carol Oja (Chair), William Powell Mason Professor of Music, Harvard University; Jennifer Higdon, composer and recipient of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music; Evan Ziporyn, composer, clarinetist, and Director, Center for Art, Science & Technology and Kenan Sabin Distinguished Professor of Music, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; John V. Brown, Director of the Jazz Program and Associate Professor of the Practice of Music, Duke University; and Alex Ross, author and Music Critic for The New Yorker.

ASCAP Announces 2017 Morton Gould Young Composer Award Recipients

ASCAP Foundation President Paul Williams has announced the recipients of the 2017 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards which encourages talented young creators of concert music. The composers will be recognized at an ASCAP event later this year.

Below are details for the nineteen award recipients whose works were selected from approximately 550 submissions and, wherever possible, a complete recording of the award-winning work. (The youngest recipients are listed only by state of residence, as per ASCAP’s policy.)

  • Julia Adolphe of Los Angeles, CA (b. 1988 in New York, NY):
    Unearth, Release (concerto for viola and orchestra) (2016) [19:00]
  • Eugene Birman of Oakland, CA (b. 1987 in Moscow, Russia):
    State of the Union for 12 voices (2015-16) [37:45]
  • Yuri Boguinia of Princeton, NJ (b. 1997 in Stavropol, Russia):
    Path to Kailas for chorus, string quartet, and percussion (2016) [27:30]
  • Ryan Chase of Hamilton, NY (b. 1987 in Port Jefferson, NY):
    come iri da iri for double wind quintet (2016) [12:30]
  • Chen Yihan of New York, NY (b. 1994 in Changzhou, China):
    Phantasms for chamber orchestra (2015) [21:00]
  • Tommy Dougherty of Los Angeles, CA (b. 1990 in Pittsburgh, PA):
    Three Dances for Orchestra (2015) [8:00]
  • Michael-Thomas Foumai of Honolulu, HI (b. 1987 in Honolulu, HI):
    Manookian Murals for flute, cello, and piano (2016) [25:00]
  • Paul Frucht of New York, NY (b. 1989 in Danbury, CT):
    Dawn for orchestra (2013) [10:30]
  • Saad Haddad of Northridge, CA (b. 1992 in Augusta, GA):
    Takht for sinfonietta (2016) [12:00]
  • William Healy of Brooklyn, NY (b. 1990 New York, NY):
    Kolmanskop for orchestra (2016) [11:30]
  • Alexander Hurvitz of CA (b. 2003):
    The Trail of the West for violin and piano (2016) [6:00]
  • Tengku Irfan of New York, NY (b. 1998 in Malaysia):
    Vivacity for orchestra (2016) [15:00]
  • Egemen Kesikli of Boulder, CO (b. 1989 in Diyarbakir, Turkey):
    Movement III “Yaz” from Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Concert Band (2015) [10:00]
  • Scott Lee of Durham, NC (b. 1988 in St. Petersburg, FL):
    Vicious Circles for orchestra (2016) [9:30]
  • Li Qi of Bloomington, Indiana (b. 1990 in Beijing, China):
    Music Diary for soprano, flute, clarinet. violin, and percussion (2014) [9:00]
  • Patrick O’Malley of Los Angeles, CA (b. 1989 in Detroit, MI):
    Loneliness in a Beautiful Place for string orchestra (2016) [9:30]
  • Jules Pegram of Ann Arbor, MI (b. 1991 in Richmond, VA):
    CRUSH for eight cellos (2016) [20:00]
  • J. P. Redmond of NY (b. 1999):
    Wilt Thou Therefore Rise for soprano and chamber orchestra (2016) [13:30]
  • Dale Trumbore of Los Angeles, CA (b. 1987 in Chatham, NJ):
    How to Go On for unaccompanied SSAATTBB chorus (2017) [35:00]

In addition, the following composers received Honorable Mention:

  • Jake Bean of Puyallup, WA (b. 1995 in Ellensburg, WA)
  • T. J. Cole of Philadelphia, PA (b. 1993 in Athens, GA)
  • Alistair Coleman of MD (b. 1998)
  • Juan Pablo Contreras of Los Angeles, CA (b. 1987 in Guadalajara, Mexico)
  • Gabriel Crist of NC (b. 2003)
  • Nathan Fletcher of Staten Island, NY (b. 1992 in New Haven, CT)
  • Andrew Guo of IL (b.1998)
  • Natsumi Osborn of TX (b. 1999)
  • Ivan Specht of NY (b. 2001)
  • Felipe Tovar- Henao of Bloomington, IN (b. 1991 in Manizales, Colombia)
  • Vu Dang Minh Anh of Rochester, NY (b. 1994 in Warsaw, Poland)

The award-winning composers share cash prizes including the Leo Kaplan Award, in memory of the distinguished attorney who served as ASCAP Special Distribution Advisor, and the Charlotte V. Bergen Scholarship for a composer 18 years of age or younger.  Additional funding is provided by The ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund and The ASCAP Foundation Jack and Amy Norworth Fund.  (Irving Caesar was best known as the lyricist of “Tea for Two” and “Swanee”; Jack Norworth wrote such standards as “Shine On Harvest Moon” and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”)  Established in 1979, with funding from the Jack and Amy Norworth Fund, The ASCAP Foundation Young Composer Awards program grants cash prizes to Concert Music composers up to 30 years of age whose works are selected through a juried national competition.  These composers may be American citizens, permanent residents, or students possessing US Student Visas. To honor his lifelong commitment to encouraging young creators especially during his 1986-1994 tenure as President of ASCAP and The ASCAP Foundation (as well as the fact that his own music was first published, by G. Schirmer, when he was only six years old), the Young Composer program was named the Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, following his death in 1996. Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education and talent development programs.

The judges for the 2017 ASCAP Morton Gould Awards were ASCAP member composers Samuel Adler, Valerie Coleman, Daniel Felsenfeld, Martin Kennedy, Lowell Liebermann, Daniel Trueman, Matthew Van Brink, and Aleksandra Vrebalov.

 

 

 

 

Trump Budget Proposal Eliminates NEA

Last night reactions to President Trump’s proposed budget began circulating, which includes a call for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

In response to the proposal, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) underlined that the “administration makes recommendations, but Congress does budgets.” Arts groups are urging their constituents to contact their representatives.

The NEA has made the following statement via its website:

Statement from National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu

Today we learned that the President’s FY 2018 budget blueprint proposes the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts. We are disappointed because we see our funding actively making a difference with individuals of all ages in thousands of communities, large, small, urban and rural, and in every Congressional District in the nation.

We understand that the President’s budget request is a first step in a very long budget process; as part of that process we are working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prepare information they have requested. At this time, the NEA continues to operate as usual and will do so until a new budget is enacted by Congress.

We expect this news to be an active topic of discussion among individuals and organizations that advocate for the arts. As a federal government agency, the NEA cannot engage in advocacy, either directly or indirectly. We will, however, continue our practice of educating about the NEA’s vital role in serving our nation’s communities.

2017 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards Announced

The ASCAP Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2017 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards. The recipients, who receive cash awards, range in age from 15 to 30, and are selected through a juried national competition.

The 2017 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award recipients are listed with their age, current residence and place of birth. The youngest winners are listed with their age and state of residence:

Composers receiving Honorable Mention this year are: Lucas Apostoleris, age 23 of Miami, FL (New Milford, CT); Mario Castro, age 28 of New York, NY (Humacao, Puerto Rico); Andrew Leung, age 15 of California; Gina Ramirez, age 19 of Los Angeles, CA; Jordan Seigel, age 28 of Sherman Oaks, CA (Los Angeles, CA); Sara Sithi-Amnuai, age 22 of Los Angeles, CA (Australia); and Andrew Van Tassel, age 28 of New York, NY (Short Hills, NJ).

The Newport Festival Foundation will feature one of the recipients of the Herb Alpert Awards during the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival in August. The awards were established in 2002 to encourage young gifted jazz composers up to the age of 30 and carry the name of the great trumpeter and ASCAP member Herb Alpert in recognition of the Herb Alpert Foundation’s multi-year financial commitment to support this program. Additional funding for this program is provided by The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund. The ASCAP composer/judges for the 2017 competition were: Anat Cohen, Keyon Harrold, and Yosvany Terry.

2017 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awardees

Daugherty’s Tales Of Hemingway Dominates New Music Grammy’s

59th annual grammy winners

Adele’s album of the year win and Beyoncé’s transfixing awards ceremony performance have captured Grammy recap headlines, but Michael Daugherty and the team behind the Naxos release Tales Of Hemingway were yesterday’s big new music winners during the 59th annual awards celebration. The disc captured wins for Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Tales Of Hemingway), Best Classical Compendium (the album also includes Daugherty’s American Gothic and Once Upon a Castle, featuring the Nashville Symphony conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero), and Best Classical Instrumental Solo (performed here by cellist Zuill Bailey).

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance went to Third Coast Percussion for their recording of work by Steve Reich on the Cedille label. Third Coast performed the third movement of Mallet Quartet with Ravi Coltrane during performances before the televised broadcast. Video is available here.

Best Opera Recording went to John Corigliano’s The Ghosts Of Versailles (Pentatone Music; LA Opera, James Conlon conducting), which also won for Best Engineered Album, Classical (Mark Donahue, Fred Vogler, and David L Williams, engineers).

Ted Nash Big Band’s Presidential Suite: Eight Variations On Freedom (Motema Music) was named Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album with its “Spoken At Midnight,” composed by Nash, picking up the Best Instrumental Composition nod.

David Frost was once again lauded as Producer Of The Year, Classical.

The Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media went to Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Walt Disney Records), composed by John Williams. The Color Purple (Broadway Records) won for Best Musical Theater Album.

More about these albums and the winners in all 84 categories is now posted on the Grammy website.

Third New Music Gathering Announces May Line-Up

Composer/Performer Speed Dating

Percussionist Steven Schick, the International Contemporary Ensemble, New Music Detroit, and Michigan’s Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble have been announced as the headlining performers for the third annual New Music Gathering, this year slated for May 11–13, 2017, on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

Co-founded by musicians Lainie Fefferman, Daniel Felsenfeld, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Matt Marks, and Jascha Narveson, this practitioner-led conference has become a much-praised space for new music colleagues from across the country to meet face-to-face and discuss challenging issues and exciting trends. The full three-day schedule of panels, performances, and lectures built around this year’s theme of “Support” is now available on the NMG site. Topics will range widely, spanning the use of technology and electronic elements in new music to concerns over the level of diversity in the field. Installations and demonstrations, composer/performer speed dating, and even career-oriented “therapy” will be on offer.

audience at NMG panel

Audience at NMG panel in 2016

Being clear that he was speaking on behalf of all the founders, Daniel Felsenfeld acknowledges the growth of the grassroots event but redirects credit for its success back on the wider new music community.

“Our first year was a bit of a nail-biter—would anyone come?—and we were pleasantly surprised, dazzled even, by the enthusiasm, even more so the second year,” he admits. “And we cannot even take credit for this because the community did all of that heavy lifting: we just gave it space. So as we prepare for year three the usual challenges present themselves, just in greater numbers. Also we have, because of some gracious funding help, significantly lowered the price to welcome more people to NMG.”

Registration is now open at the rate of $50/advanced full-3-day conference pass ($60 at the door); $20/day pass. Complimentary passes are available to BGSU students, staff, faculty, and alumni.

The Curiosity Cabinet

The Curiosity Cabinet in performance, part of the NMG in Baltimore in 2016

Previously held in San Francisco and Baltimore, the Bowling Green location takes the festival into the country’s heartland. Felsenfeld explains that the location was chosen for two reasons. “The first was the school’s legendary commitment to new music,” he acknowledged. “And the other the fact that we’ve been on both coasts and need to look elsewhere—and so much is happening either at the college or in neighboring cities that it seemed like an ideal hub for so much excellent music making. One of the principal missions of New Music Gathering is to never be in the same place twice, which means we get to experience more of the musical landscape.”

Part of that experience means getting out of urban hubs. “In a way, the surprise is part of the fun,” Felsenfeld suggests. “We do not know exactly how things will work in Bowling Green, but we do know it will be different and that, to us, is critical.” Conference attendees who may not have met yet or know each other only via social media can look to share transportation and housing through the event’s couch and ridesharing program.

And the 89th Academy Award Composer Nominees Are…

The nominees for the 89th Academy Awards have been announced, including nods in the category of best original score to composers Mica Levi, Justin Hurwitz, Nicholas Britell, Thomas Newman, and the team of Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka.

In December 2016 it was noted that scores such as Jóhann Jóhannsson’s notable contribution to Arrival would not be eligible.

Winners will be awarded during a ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, February 26, 2017.

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

JACKIE
Mica Levi
LA LA LAND
Justin Hurwitz
LION
Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
MOONLIGHT
Nicholas Britell
PASSENGERS
Thomas Newman

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

AUDITION (THE FOOLS WHO DREAM)
from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
CAN’T STOP THE FEELING
from Trolls; Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
CITY OF STARS
from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
THE EMPTY CHAIR
from Jim: The James Foley Story; Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
HOW FAR I’LL GO
from Moana; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

SOUND EDITING

ARRIVAL
Sylvain Bellemare
DEEPWATER HORIZON
Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli
HACKSAW RIDGE
Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
LA LA LAND
Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
SULLY
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

SOUND MIXING

ARRIVAL
Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye
HACKSAW RIDGE
Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
LA LA LAND
Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth