Sigma Alpha Iota

62 ANNUAL AMERICAN COMPOSERS UPDATE SAI Member • Friend of the Arts • • Canyon) by Meridian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Claire Fox Hillard in Meridian, MS on 5/15/10. Benediction by Seattle Symphony conducted by Gerard Schwarz in Seattle, Washington on 5/21/10. Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra by Ko-ichiro Yamamoto, trombone, and the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra conducted by Gerard Schwarz in Greensboro, NC on 7/8/10. Listen Now, My Children by University of South Carolina Symphony conducted by Donald Portnoy in Columbia, SC on 11/16/10. Canticles of Time (Symphony No. 2) by American Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Gabriel Sakakeeny in Marin County, CA on 2/19 and 2/20/11. PUBLICATIONS: Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra published by Campanile Music Press, Carl Fischer, LLC., exclusive agent. Organ Benediction for Organ and Strings, published by Campanile Music Press, Carl Fischer, LLC, exclusive agent. Listen Now, My Children for Symphony Orchestra, published by Campanile Music Press, Carl Fischer, LLC, exclusive agent. WEBSITE: samueljones.net LEE R. KESSELMAN • • • NEWS: Mr. Kesselman has been honored as a composer with prizes in the Melodious Accord (New York) Composition Search, Chautauqua Chamber Singers Composition Contest, the Chautauqua Children's Chorale Composition Contest and the Illinois Choral Directors' Association Contest. Kesselman is best known as a composer of vocal works, including opera, music for chorus, and solo songs. Large works include the opera The Bremen Town Musicans (commissioned by Opera for the Young), The Emperor's New Clothes (a choral opera), Love Phases for baritone voice and piano, Nights in Armor for mixed chorus, Shona Mass for voices and African percussion, and Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand, a symphony for treble chorus and orchestra. The Bremen Town Musicans has been performed over 300 times for Wisconsin and Illinois schoolchildren. Kesselman's most recent works include Measuring the Holy for adult & children's choirs and orchestra, Handel Trio for SATB, percussion and piano duet, Songs of Wonder for mixed chorus. Love Song for a Common Destiny for SATB, SENSOO for SATB and piano, and As One is One for SATB, contrabass, and piano. Mr. Kesselman's works for children have brought him national attention and he has been commissioned to write for children's choirs, middle school, junior school, high school, college, community, church, and professional ensembles. Boosey & Hawkes, Roger Dean Music, Lawson-Gould Music Publishers, Colla Voce and Plymouth Music Co have published Mr. Kesselman's works. He also serves as an editor for Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers. WEBSITE: KesselmanPress.com SUSAN COHN LACKMAN • NEWS: Dr. Susan Cohn Lackman, a faculty member of Rollins College, has been appointed as the new Director of the Sigma Alpha Iota Composers Bureau. PREMIERES: On Seeing Lao Shan Again by Ann Yao, pipa and Xiao Yu, guzheng at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida on 10/08. In Memoriam, New Orleans by Susan Cohn Lackman, piano in Longwood, Florida on 2/09. Ghosts on the Bund by Gloria Cook, piano at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida on 10/09. Ma'oz Tsur by Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in Orlando, Florida on 11/09. Admiral of the Endless 30 PAN PIPES WINTER 2011 sai-national.org National Arts Associate • • • Honorary Member • • • • Sea by Gloria Cook, piano at China Goes Global Conference, JFK School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, on 10/10. PERFORMANCES: Star Ferry, Ross Carey and Fu Hong, pianists, 2008 Beijing International Congress lackman on Women in Music, China Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, 4/08. (review: iawm.org/articles_html/icwm_reports.pdf p. 20 -22) Jewish Music on the American Hit Parade, Susan Cohn Lackman and Dr. Richard D. Knapp, multiple performances, Central Florida, 2009 – 2010. LORI LAITMAN • • • • PREMIERES: Vedem, a Holocaust-themed Oratorio. Libretto by David Mason and poems by Petr Ginz, Hanus Hachenberg, Josef Taussig and Zdenek Ornest. Commissioned by Music of Remembrance, premiered on Benaroya Recital Hall on 5/10/10. The Act, commissioned by The Sorel Organization, and set for soprano, tenor and piano to a poem by H.L. Hix by Andrea Leyton-Mange, soprano, Blaise Pascal, tenor and Andrew Rosenblum, piano at SongFest in Malibu, CA on 6/20/10.  Chèvrefeuille, commissioned by Randolph College, for SATB choir to a poem by Dick Davis on 4/28/10. Todesfuge, by Wolfgang Holzmair, baritone. Setting of Paul Celan poem in German and English, for baritone with cello. PERFORMANCES: The Metropolitan Tower and other selected songs, including Come To The Devil's Fire from The Scarlet Letter at Glazunov Hall in St. Petersburg Conservatory on 10/25/10, Catherine The Great Hall in Pushkin, Russia on 10/27/10, The Moscow Conservatory on 10/30/10, and The Gnessin Academy of Music on 11/2/10. Songs of Lori Laitman Concert by Lori Laitman with the Muhlenberg Music Faculty at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA on 11/5/10. I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Courtney Huffman laitman and Julie Scolnik, flute for the Andover Chamber Music Society at West Parish Church, Andover, MA on 11/7/10. Several Dickinson settings, including premiere of Some Keep The Sabbath: by Teresa Eickel, soprano and Djordje Nesic, piano in Litchfield, CT on 10/29/10; in W. Hartford, CT on 11/6/10; and in Chicago, IL on 11/12/10. The Perfected Life and The Silver Swan by Juline Gilmore, mezzosoprano and Lori Laitman, piano at the 2010 NATS Conference, Salt Lake City, UT. on 7/4/10. PUBLICATIONS:  Doctoral Papers: "A Performance Guide to Lori Laitman's Living In The Body" by Kathryn Drake, DMA, Louisiana State University, 2010. RECORDINGS: I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Soprano Hila Plitman and clarinetist Julian Bliss, on the British Signum label. LIBBY LARSEN • • • • • NEWS: Libby Larsen was awarded the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to American Music. The award ceremony was in 5/10. Member Laureate • • • • • PREMIERES: The Encircling Skies by Florida Atlantic Music Dept in Boca Raton, FL. Celebration Mass at St. Paul's Cathedral in Denver, CO. A Book of Spells by Cornell U Chorus in Ithaca, NY. Cri de Coeur by U.S. Army Band conducted by Dr. Brian Meixner in Washington, D.C. Free, Fearless and Female by Vassar Women's Chorus in Poughkeepsie, NY. PERFORMANCES: Gloria by St. Cloud State Winds in St. Cloud, MN. The Strange Case of Dr. H. H. Holmes by Florestan in Harrisburg, PA. Like Blind Men Tapping in the Dark by Stoyanova and Moersch in Minneapolis, MN. Blue Piece for Violin by Cora Cooper in Kansas City, KS. Rodeo Queen of Heaven by enhake in New York, NY. PUBLICATIONS: Like Blind Men Tapping in the Dark; Blue Piece for Violin; Rodeo Queen of Heaven ; Song; Baseball Songs. RECORDINGS: A Lover's Journey by Octarium. Blue windows by Antara Winds. Introduction to the Moon by Concordia College Records. Song Concerto by Eugene Rousseau and University of North Texas. Holy Roller by Jonathan Helton, University of Florida, Centaur Records. ELIZABETH LAUER NEWS: Carousel - Dance Variations on 'All the Pretty Little Horses,' a work for piano composed on commission from the Connecticut State Music Teachers Association, won first prize in the Biennial competition of the National League of American Pen Women this year. STEPHEN LIAS • • • NEWS: Stephen Lias was honored to be selected as one of the 2010 Artists-inResidence for Rocky Mountain National Park. During his residency in July, he began work on the fourth in a series of chamber lias pieces focusing on national parks. This work, a trumpet sonata, follows other brass works including a trumpet ensemble piece about Kings Canyon National Park, a work for trombone choir about Sequoia National Park, and a trombone sonata titled "River Runner" which chronicles a paddler's journey through Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park. Lias hopes to continue this project through other compositions and residencies over the next few years, in anticipation of the upcoming centennial celebration of the National Park Service in 2016. In addition to these activities, Lias is the current Chair of the National Association of Composers, USA, and the Texas Delegate to the International Society of Contemporary Music. PREMIERES: River Runner for trombone and piano by Deb Scott and Ron Petti at the Texas Conference of the National Association of Composers, in San Marcos, TX on 2/10. Boggy Sough for solo piano at the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days Festival in Sydney, Australia on 5/10. Where Am I This Time? (a short electronic work) was premiered as part of the 60x60 concert at the 2010 International Computer Music Conference in New York, NY on 6/10. Kings Canyon for trumpet ensemble at the 2010 Conference of the International Trumpet Guild in Sydney, Australia on 7/10. Sequoia for trombone choir at the International Trombone

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