San Francisco Conservatory of Music Announces Major Composition Prizes

By: May. 06, 2015
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The San Francisco Conservatory of Music has announced the winners of its two major composition prizes scheduled for world premieres during the 2015-16 season. First-year graduate student Michael Kropf '16 won the Highsmith Award, SFCM's top composition prize for a current student or recent graduate, for his orchestral piece High Spirits. Eric Choate '14 was named the competition's first-ever runner-up for his work Sonora. Conductor Scott Sandmeier leads a reading of both works on May 6 and the Conservatory Orchestra will premiere High Spirits next season. Alumnus Jeffrey Parola '05, recipient of the Conservatory's prestigious Hoefer Prize, receives a $15,000 commission and holds a week-long teaching residency next season, culminating in a premiere performance and recording of his work. SFCM also announced alumnus Ilya Demutsky '09 as the Hoefer Prize winner for 2016-17.

With these prizes, the Conservatory offers outstanding student and alumni composers the rare opportunity to collaborate with an orchestra, chamber ensemble and conductor during the development of a piece, and the all-important benefit of a live performance. The prizes have been an important landmark in the artistic and professional development of Conservatory-trained composers including Manly Romero '91, whose music has been performed by the San Francisco Symphony and New York City Opera, Aleksandra Vrebalov '96, composer of numerous works for Kronos Quartet, and Ryan Brown '05, co-founder of the Switchboard Music Festival and composer of works for Kronos Quartet, Roomful of Teeth and the New York Philharmonic CONTACT! series.

Michael Kropf began writing his Highsmith submission even before arriving at SFCM to study with composition department chair David Conte. High Spirits refers to the excitement - and trepidation - that accompanied his move from New York (the South Napa earthquake jolted him awake during his very first week). The work churns with rhythmic energy in a complex 11/8 meter. For melodic contrast, Kropf aims to bring out the orchestra's natural sonorities with "plain old notes." He calls it an incredible opportunity to rehearse with the real thing instead of relying on a MIDI simulation. "I was really interested in how do I, in a firm, solid way, make these instruments sound fresh and interesting, but speak in a really natural way. I don't know if I've done that and I will definitely be listening for that."

Writing for a full orchestra can test the skills of even seasoned composers, but department chair Conte says Kropf met the challenge. "High Spirits is a remarkably inventive and inspired piece, with true rhetorical traction, formal coherence, and sonic beauty. It will communicate very directly to a diverse audience, while also satisfying those listeners who seek originality and rigor. In this regard it resembles Hoefer Prize winner Jeffrey Parola's Highsmith-winning piece The Long Valley from 2009."

Jeffrey Parola was nominated and chosen by a panel of SFCM faculty to receive the Hoefer Prize, an award designated for alumni with at least five years of professional experience. A former student of Conte's, Parola has written orchestral, choral and chamber music for ensembles including the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, Choral Chameleon and Pacific Serenades. His work The Long Valley also received the 2012 European American Musical Alliance Prize.

As part of his SFCM residency next season, Parola will hold rehearsals, public discussions and master classes with student composers. A doctoral candidate and instructor at the University of Southern California as well as a working organist, conductor and singer, he plans to drive home the message that while winning awards can provide valuable exposure, musicians need to pursue a broad-based career strategy. "The twenty-first century is proving that you have to wear many hats as a musician in the real world and you have to cultivate many skills and you have to be marketable in many ways and always remember that music is a business."

In addition to the Hoefer Prize and Highsmith Award, SFCM holds several competitions each year featuring performances of student-written works. The kitty from a recent art song competition was split between three victors including Kropf and fellow grad student Kyle Randall '15, a student of David Garner, and undergraduate Collin Whitfield '16, a student of Mason Bates. Other contests feature premieres of chamber and choral works. Students also collaborate in departmental recitals that showcase new works for a single instrument, such as viola, cello or guitar. Together, these efforts reflect SFCM's historic and exceptionally deep level of commitment to composition. They also constitute a unique opportunity for the school's department of roughly 30 student composers to have their works performed and heard.



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