FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 9, 2009

Young Composers’ Winning Works Premiered

WHAT:          

The premiere of the winning compositions from the Community Music School of Webster University’s Young Composers Competition will feature six original compositions by students across the nation.  The works will be performed by professional St. Louis area musicians.

The evening’s concert, which will be professionally recorded for the winners, will include a performance of Dr. Chen Yi’s Three Bagatelles from China West.  Dr. Chen is an internationally renowned composer and the recipient of the prestigious Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Distinguished Professor at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. 

The Young Composers Competition, sponsored by Arden and Harry Fisher, recognizes and supports the work of outstanding young composers who have not yet completed their formal education.  Winners are selected in two categories:  Level I for students ages 12-16 and Level II for students ages 17-21.  Thirty-two works were submitted from nine states.

WHEN:          

Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE:        

Community Music School of Webster University  
Concert Hall
535 Garden Avenue
St. Louis, MO  63119

ADMISSION: 

Free and open to the public

FOR MORE INFO:   

Call 314-246-4448

Young Composers Competition Winners

Sponsored by Arden and Harry Fisher

Level 1 (12-16 years)

1st Place                      Jack Hughes                           Age 16           
Rhapsody for Piano Quartet
Reston, Virginia

2nd Place                     Riley Crabtree                         Age 16            
Valse Fantastique
Vancouver, Washington

Honorable Mention     Sam Reising                           Age 16            
La Vie de Madame Souris
Portland, Oregon                   

Level 2 (17-21 years)

1st Place                      Anthony Hernandez                Age 21            
Clarinet Sonata
Columbia, Missouri

2nd Place                     Lauren Wells                           Age 21            
Sonata for Cello and Piano
Kansas City, Missouri

Honorable Mention     Cole Perkinson                       Age 17            
Soliloquy and Dialogue
Portland, Oregon       

Dr. Chen Yi is a prolific composer who blends Chinese and Western traditions, transcending cultural and musical boundaries. Born in 1953 in Guangzhou, China, she is the Distinguished Professor at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and the recipient of the prestigious Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her music is published by Theodore Presser Company, commissioned and performed worldwide by such ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony, the Singapore Symphony and the Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden, recorded on Bis, New Albion, New World, Teldec (with a Grammy Award sung by Chanticleer), Telarc, Angle, Nimbus, Albany, Quartz, Naxos, Koch & China Record Co.,  among others. Chen Yi has received bachelor and master degrees in music composition (1983 and 1986) from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree (1993) from Columbia University in the City of New York. Major composition teachers have been Profs. Wu Zu-qiang, Chou Wen-chung and Mario Davidovsky. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2005, and appointed to the 3-year Changjiang Scholar Visiting Professor at the CCOM by the China Ministry of Education in 2006.