Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • SUMMER 2017 • PAN PIPES 11 D E I J K N O P T U X Y Z Dr. Daniel M. Brewbaker, composer and SAI National Arts Associate, died at the age of 66 on May 14, 2017 aer a two-year battle with a brain tumor. Born in 1951 in Elgin, Illinois, Brewbaker began his musical education at an early age, studying piano and trumpet and participating in many musical activities. He went on to earn Master's and Doctorate degrees from the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied with prominent composers, such as Roger Sessions and Vincent Persichetti. He was active as an educator, serving on the faculties of the Juilliard School, Hunter College, Queens Colleges (CUNY), and the Westminster Choir College. His studies took him to Rome and other major European musical centers, and he lived extensively abroad, working with composers Hans Werner Henze, Luciano Berio, and Henri Dutilleaux. Dr. Brewbaker's first composition, Psalm 39, was premiered in 1970 at the University of Illinois, starting his prolific career as one of America's distinguished contemporary composers. He was commissioned to compose works for leading conductors, ensembles and soloists worldwide, including: Oratorios, Cantatas, Symphonic works and concertos for Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra and Chorus, James Conlon and the Cincinnati Symphony and Chorus, Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony and Chorus, New York Chamber Symphony and Young People's Chorus of NYC, Doreen Rao and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, St. Luke's Chamber Orchestra and Millennium Festival Chorus, Kent Nagano and the Berkeley Symphony, violinist Vadim Repin, Yuri Temirkanov and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and cellist Carter Brey and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He composed chamber and solo works for the centenary of the Juilliard School, e Borromeo String Quartet, pianist Richard Goode, Mezzo- soprano Frederica von Stade and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; and numerous choral works for, among others, Chanticleer, Musica Sacra, Handel Oratorio Society of Dartmouth College, Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, New Classic Singers, Heartland Voices, Brooklyn Youth Chorus and Symphony, Portland Symphonic Girlchoir, Children's Aid Society Chorus of NYC, Anima Young Singers, and a children's opera for the Children's eater of Elgin. His music is published by Boosey&Hawkes, Inc., and distributed by Hal Leonard Corp. Brewbaker was Composer in Residence at the Spoleto USA Music Festival in Charleston, S.C., the Cabrillo Music Festival, the Prince Albert Music Festival in Hawaii, the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, the Fundacion Valparaiso in Spain, the Ligurian Study Center in Italy, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico, Copland House, Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, and the American Academy in Rome. He received awards from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, e Nadia Boulanger Foundation, Copland House/Borromeo String Quartet, and the International Rotary Foundation. Dr. Brewbaker was also active as a guest conductor and lecturer. In 2004, Brewbaker received a commission to write a violin concerto for the Russian virtuoso violinist Vadim Repin. e premiere with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. in 2005 prompted a critic from the Baltimore Sun to comment, "It did what precious few pieces of contemporary music do - light a fire under the audience. With good reason. Daniel Brewbaker's Playing and Being Played has the right stuff. In a single, compact movement, Brewbaker's concerto packs a remarkable amount of thematic material that is developed clearly and arrestingly. From its misty opening measures to a breathless dash for the finish line, the score travels through a variety of moods with a restless energy that, even at the slowest, quietest moments, exudes a powerful tension. At one of those so spots, a lyrical theme, simple and direct, emerges from the violin. Many a composer, past or present, would envy its haunting pull. Brewbaker has a flair for writing unabashedly beautiful themes." Sigma Alpha Iota was fortunate to call Dr. Brewbaker one of its own, aer his initiation as a National Arts Associate in 2013 by the Oak Park Alumnae Chapter. He served as a Composer- Judge for the 2015 National Convention, and we were enthralled by his piece, i carry your heart. He commented beforehand, "I am happy to serve as composer/judge for the Inter-American Music Awards, and appear at the 2015 SAI National Convention…I look forward to seeing many SAI friends and colleagues, as well as meeting new ones." And we were so very happy to have met him and been a part of his musical legacy. GRACE NOTES Remembering Daniel Brewbaker Dr. Daniel Brewbaker, right, speaks during a 2015 SAI National Convention workshop that also included St. Louis Chamber Choir Assistant Conductor and Nu initiate Mary Ongjoco Chapman, Inter-American Music Awards composition winner Timothy Roy, and Brewbaker's fellow 2015 IAMA Composer-Judge, National Arts Associate Dr. Tania León.

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