Seven Emerging Composers Chosen for Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute

Seven emerging composers have been selected as participants in the Minnesota Orchestra's 15th annual Composer Institute, Institute Director Kevin Puts announced today. The selected composers, whose works encompass a variety of musical styles, were chosen from a pool of 158 candidates through a highly competitive process. They will be in Minneapolis from November 6 through 10, 2017, for rehearsals, seminars and mentoring sessions, as well as a public "Future Classics" performance of their works on Friday, November 10, with Music Director Osmo Vänskä conducting the Minnesota Orchestra in concert at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis.

The 15th annual Composer Institute participants are Saad Haddad, of Los Angeles, California; Andrew Hsu, of Fremont, California; Charles Peck, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Hilary Purrington, of New Haven, Connecticut; Daniel Schlosberg, of Brooklyn, New York; Peter S. Shin, of Kansas City, Missouri; and Nina C. Young, of New York, New York.

"I can't imagine seven young composers who better represent today's richly diverse musical landscape," said Composer Institute Director Kevin Puts. "The 'Future Classics' concert on Nov. 10 promises to be an absorbing and deeply moving sonic experience with something for everyone."

In addition to Mr. Puts, other members of the selection committee were Grawemeyer Award-winning composer Sebastian Currier, whose brand new work RE-FORMATION was commissioned and will be premiered by Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra on the weekend prior to the Composer Institute (November 2 to 4, 2017); Grammy-winning composer and co-founder of the American Composers Forum Libby Larsen; and acclaimed Wisconsin-born composer Michael Torke, whose music is performed widely by major orchestras and other ensembles worldwide.

In addition to the seven composers chosen to participate in the Composer Institute, the panel named the following composers as alternates: Viet Cuong, Natalie Dietterich, Leanna Primiani and Gity Razaz. In addition, these composers were designated as runners-up: Corey Cunningham, Jonathan Cziner, Paul Frucht, Timothy Page, Benjamin Scheer, Carlos Simon and Alyssa Weinberg. Cited for honorable mention are: Theo Chandler, Yi-Yiing Chen, Chen Yihan, Louis Goldford, Christopher LaRosa, Sky Macklay, Joshua Mastel, Thomas Nazziola, Jules Pegram, Rick Robinson, Will Stackpole and Yiheng Yvonne Wu.

Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute: 15th Anniversary

The Composer Institute, widely recognized as a leading professional training program for emerging symphonic composers, is co-presented by the Minnesota Orchestra and the American Composers Forum. Now in its fourth year under the direction of Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Puts, the Institute was founded in 2002 as an outgrowth of the Orchestra's Perfect Pitch program, an annual series of new music reading sessions for Minnesota composers launched during the 1995-96 season. Many of the 127 composers who have previously taken part in Perfect Pitch and the Composer Institute have gone on to receive major commissions, awards, grants and additional performances of their works. Composer Aaron Jay Kernis was the Composer Institute's founder and directed it for 11 seasons.

The Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute is generously supported by the Amphion Foundation, the American Composers Forum and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music. The November 2017 Composer Institute honors the memory of Hella Mears Hueg, a long-time supporter of new music and generous funder of the Institute, who passed away this past spring.

Minnesota Orchestra Classical Concert
FUTURE CLASSICS: EMERGING COMPOSERS SPOTLIGHT

Friday, November 10, 2017, 8 p.m. / Orchestra Hall

Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Kevin Puts, Composer Institute director

SAAD HADDAD Takht
ANDREW HSU vale
Charles Peck Mosaic
HILARY PURRINGTON Likely Pictures in Haphazard Sky
DANIEL SCHLOSBERG Small Talk
PETER S. SHIN Relapse
NINA C. YOUNG Agnosco Veteris

More: minnesotaorchestra.org

TICKET PURCHASING INFORMATION

Individual tickets and subscription packages can be purchased online at minnesotaorchestra.org, or by calling 612-371-5656 (612-371-5642 for subscriptions) or 800-292-4141. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Orchestra Hall Box Office, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis (open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and beginning two hours before all ticketed performances); and at the Minnesota Orchestra Administrative Office, International Centre, 5th floor, 920 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis (open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). For more information, call 612-371-5656, or visit minnesotaorchestra.org. For subscriptions, call 612-371-5642 or visit minnesotaorchestra.org/subscribe. For groups of 10 or more, call 612-371-5662.

The Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute is generously supported by The Amphion Foundation, the American Composers Forum, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Hella Mears Hueg, and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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