Sigma Alpha Iota

new composers Socolofsky Named Blackburn Competition Winner T he Pittsburgh PA Alumnae Chapter has announced the winner of the 2011 Margaret Blackburn Biennial Composition Competition. Annika Socolofsky, an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University, submitted the winning composition entitled Yakiri Song Cycle for Mezzo-soprano and Chamber Ensemble. Annika is the first undergraduate student to be chosen as the winner of this competition. Receiving honorable mention were Olber's Dance in the Dark for string quartet composed by Melody Eotvos, a doctoral candidate at Indiana University, and Slipping Dreams for flute, clarinet, bassoon, percussion, piano, 2 violins, cello and double bass composed by Liliya Ugay, an undergraduate at Columbus State University. The judge for the 2011 Competition was SAI National Arts Associate David Stock, who has taught on the faculties of the Cleveland Institute of Music, the New England Conservatory, Antioch College, the University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh PA. There were 33 entries from young women representing 27 different universities, including women from Greece and Italy. The entrants came from several foreign countries including Uzbekistan, Greece, Italy, and Lebanon. The Blackburn Composition Award is given in memory of Margaret Blackburn, composer of the SAI Chorale. Margaret was an initiate of the Alpha Mu Chapter at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1935. Her Chorale won an SAI national composition competition and was made the official Chorale in 1947. Margaret remained an active member of the Pittsburgh Alumnae Chapter until her death in 1993. She was awarded the Ring of Excellence for the Chorale at the 1971 SAI National Convention, and she was honored at the 1990 SAI Convention when the SAI Ritual Service was dedicated to her. Annika Kale Socolofsky was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and began her musical training on the violin and mandolin after moving to Chicago, Illinois. Annika is a senior candidate for a Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts in Composition at Carnegie Mellon University where she studies with Reza Vali. An alumna of the Brevard Music Center and the European American Musical Alliance, Annika has also studied composition with David Dzubay (Indiana University), Robert Aldridge (Montclair State University), Michel Merlet (École Normale 8 PAN PIPES WINTER 2012 sai-national.org Composer Annika Socolofsky de Musique), and SAI Member Laureate Dr. Marilyn Taft Thomas (Carnegie Mellon University). Her works have been performed in Paris, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Denver, Provo, and Brevard by artists and ensembles including the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble, Access Contemporary Music Chicago, Alia Musica Pittsburgh, Brevard Music Center's ITCH Ensemble, and flautist April Clayton. Annika's music is deeply inspired by Klezmer and Balkan music. She studies klezmer violin with Steven Greenman and is a violinist and mandolinist for the Carnegie Mellon Klezmer Band and the University of Pittsburgh's Carpathian Ensemble. Current projects include her Serbian Brass Band Project and a 365-section piece for klezmer band, co-authored by the great klezmer clarinetist Michael Winograd and two other composers from the 2011 KlezKanada Summer Festival. In addition to the Margaret Blackburn 2011 Biennial Composition, Competition Annika has been awarded first prize in the 2011 Harry G. Archer Memorial Undergraduate Student String Quartet Competition (for her string quartet, Quatuor à cordes en ré). Annika is a member of Mortar Board National Honor Society, ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, and American Music Center. Her works are published by Senza Sordino Music Publishing. The 2013 Margaret Blackburn Competition will be announced in the fall of 2012. Information on the competition can be received by contacting Melissa Lessure at Lessure@ lycos.com. The competition is open to females enrolled in a degree program at the university level. — Rebecca Catelinet Editor, Pittsburgh Alumnae Chapter

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