American Composers Forum Announces Recipients of Champion of New Music Award

The American Composers Forum (ACF) Board of Directors has voted to present its 2016 "Champion of New Music" award to four outstanding recipients: Pianist and Contemporary Chamber Ensemble founding member Gilbert Kalish; Opera Parallèle's artistic director, conductor, and founder Nicole Paiement; new music writer, blogger and New Yorker magazine columnist Alex Ross; and conductor, pianist, composer and pedagogue Robert Spano at public ceremonies this year. The "Champion of New Music" award was established by ACF in 2005 as a national mark of recognition to honor individuals or ensembles that have made a significant contribution to the work and livelihoods of contemporary composers. ACF President and CEO John Nuechterlein will present the awards at three events in the coming months:

• The award to Robert Spano will be given on Saturday, April 16, 2016 at Atlanta Symphony Hall during a concert featuring the world premiere of Jonathan Leshnoff's Zohar.
• The award to Nicole Paiement will be given on Friday, April 30, 2016 at Z Space in San Francisco - during a performance of The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies.
• The awards to Gilbert Kalish and Alex Ross will be given at dates and venues yet to be determined.

Past recipients of the Award include the American Composers Orchestra, flutist Claire Chase, conductor Michael Morgan (all 2015); conductor Marin Alsop, retired ASCAP Vice President of Concert Music Frances Richard, percussionist Steven Schick (all 2014); the JACK Quartet (2012); eighth blackbird (2011); Bill Ryan and the Valley State University New Music Ensemble (2010); Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra, Philip Brunelle and VocalEssence (both 2009;, Bruce Carlson and The Schubert Club (2007), Dale Warland and the Dale Warland Singers (2006); and Cindy Gehrig and the Jerome Foundation (2005).

About the 2016 "Champion of New Music" Award-Winners

Gilbert Kalish has had a profound influence on the musical community as educator and as pianist in myriad performances and recordings that have established him as a major figure in American music making. A native New Yorker and graduate of Columbia College, he was the pianist of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players for 30 years and was a founding member of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. Kalish is Distinguished Professor and Head of Performance Activities at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Director of the International Program at the Music@Menlo Festival. From 1969 to 1997, he was a faculty member of the Tanglewood Music Center and served as the "Chairman of the Faculty" at Tanglewood from 1985 to 1997.

He often serves as guest artist at distinguished music institutions such as The Banff Centre, and the Steans Institute at Ravinia, and the Marlboro Festival, and is renowned for his master class presentations. Gilbert Kalish's discography encompasses classical repertory, 20th-century masterworks, and new compositions. Of special note are his solo recordings of Charles Ives's Concord Sonata and the sonatas of Joseph Haydn, as well as an immense discography of vocal music with Jan DeGaetani and landmarks of the 20th century by such composers as Carter, Crumb, Shapey, and Schoenberg. He was presented with the Paul Fromm Award from the University of Chicago Music Department for distinguished service to the music of our time; the Bogomolny award from Chamber Music America for distinguished service to chamber music; and the Peabody Medal from Johns Hopkins and the Peabody Conservatory for contributions to American music.

Opera Parallèle's artistic director, conductor, and founder Nicole Paiement has gained an international reputation as a conductor of contemporary music and opera. Her numerous recordings include many world premiere works and she has toured extensively in the US and Asia. Recently, Paiement was appointed Principal Guest Conductor at The Dallas Opera. As Artistic Director of Opera Parallèle, Paiement has conducted many new productions, including: world premieres of Lou Harrison's final version of Young Caesar, Dante De Silva's commissioned opera Gesualdo, Prince of Madness (presented as a graphic opera), Luciano Chessa's commissioned opera A Heavenly Act, and the commissioned chamber version of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby; Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar; Francis Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias; the American Premieres of Adam Gorb's Anya 17 and Tarik O'Regan's Heart of Darkness; and the San Francisco Bay Area return of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. With the company, she conducted this season the world premiere of the new reorchestration of Terence Blanchard's The Champion and the San Francisco Premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse.

Paiement will be appearing next season with the Atlanta Opera, the Washington National Opera, the Glimmerglass Festival, Otherminds Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival. Additionally, Paiement has been the Artistic Director of the BluePrint Project, a new music series sponsored by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). With this music series, she has commissioned, premiered, and recorded works from many living American composers. At SFCM, she holds the Jean and Josette Deleage Distinguished Chair in New Music. Paiement previously served as the Director of Ensembles at the University of California - Santa Cruz (UCSC), where she conducted the university's orchestra and opera productions. In 2014, she was awarded the UCSC Eminent Professor Award. In 2015, she received the Edward A. Dickson Emeriti Professorship in recognition of outstanding contributions and achievement in artistic scholarship and teaching.

Alex Ross has been the music critic of The New Yorkersince 1996. He covers the classical field from the Met to the downtown avant-garde, and has also contributed essays on literature, history, pop music, and gay life. From 1992 to 1996 he was a critic at The New York Times.

His first book, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (2007) won a National Book Critics Circle award and the Guardian First Book Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The Rest Is Noise has been translated into fifteen languages and in 2013 inspired a year-long festival at the Southbank Centre, in London.

His second book is the essay collection Listen to This (2010). He is now at work on Wagnerism: Art in the Shadow of Music, an account of Wagner's vast cultural impact. A native of Washington, DC, Ross studied composition with Russell Woollen at the Levine School and Peter Lieberson at Harvard. He has received an Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Belmont Prize in Germany, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a MacArthur Fellowship.

Conductor, pianist, composer and pedagogue Robert Spano has been with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for 15 seasons. As Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School, he oversees the programming of more than 300 events and educational programs for 630 students, including Aspen's American Academy of Conducting. Some career highlights include the world premiere of Steven Stucky's The Classical Style in Ojai and its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall in December 2014. An Aspen highlight was the August 2014 premiere of Spano's Hölderlin Songs with soprano Susanna Phillips and, in September, Spano joined Atlanta-based dance company glo for four performances of his new solo piano work Tanz III.

Last season, Maestro Spano conducted two world premieres with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra - Christopher Theofanidis' Creation/Creator and Michael Gandolfi's Imaginary Numbers - and joined the Houston Symphony for a Higdon/Chopin program. Guest conducting engagements included a U.S. tour with the Curtis Institute of Music (featuring a Jennifer Higdon world premiere viola concerto) and an engagement with the New England Conservatory Philharmonic. Under Maestro Spano's guidance, the ASO and audiences explore a creative programming mix. The Atlanta School of Composers reflects his commitment to American contemporary music.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's 2015/16 season includes four world premieres by composers Mark Grey, Jonathan Leshnoff and ASO bassist Michael Kurth, plus seven Atlanta premieres. The work by Jonathan Leshnoff will also receive its New York premiere on April 30, 2016, at Carnegie Hall.

About the American Composers Forum
The American Composers Forum is committed to supporting composers and developing new markets for their music. Through granting, commissioning, and performance programs, ACF provides composers at all stages of their careers with valuable resources for professional and artistic development. By linking communities with composers and performers, ACF fosters a demand for new music, enriches communities, and helps develop the next generation of composers, musicians, and music patrons.

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