LIBBY LARSEN - USA
BORN 23 DECEMBER
Elizabeth Brown Larsen is a contemporary American classical composer. Along with composer Stephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum.
Larsen attended the University of Minnesota for both her undergraduate and graduate work. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theory and Composition in 1971, a Masters of Arts degree in Composition in 1975, and a PhD in Theory and Composition in 1978. Throughout her studies at university, she studied composition with Dominick Argento, Paul Fetler and Eric Stokes. In 1975, Larsen married her husband, James Reece, whom she met at university.
Her style and approach to music comes from her own philosophy on music. Her music comes from the sound she hears everyday around her in the world. It is noted for its "energy, optimism, rhythmic diversity, colourful orchestration, liberated tonality without harsh dissonance, and pervading lyricism."
The rhythms used are often taken directly from the American language: "our own American language has beautiful rhythms in it; it is this American vernacular and the rhythm of our American life that is the language of my music." Pieces such as Holy Roller (about a revivalist preacher’s speech) and Bid Call (about auctioneering patterns) showcase this style. Larsen composes without barlines, preferring to first discover the natural flow of a line and then refine it until she finds a common meter, giving many of her compositions a feeling of free internal rhythm.
In 1993, she won a Grammy Award for producer of Best Classical Vocal Performance for "The Art of Arlene Augér", featuring her song cycle Sonnets from the Portuguese. In 1996, she received Honorary Doctorates from both St. Mary's College/Notre Dame, and the University of Nebraska.
In addition to being known as a composer, Larsen is known as a musical philosopher and speaker. She has given keynote addresses at places such as the League of American Orchestras, American Choral Directors Association, American Orff-Schulwerk Association National Convention, Concert Band Directors National Association, Dominique de Menil Presidential Lecture Series at Rice University (2001), Music Educators National Convention, and National Association of Schools of Music. From 2003-04, she served as the first Harissios Papamarkou Chair in Education and Technology at the Library of Congress.
In 2010, Larsen received a George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America.
♫ LISTEN
Chanting to Paradise by Libby Larsen
Chanting to Paradise by Libby Larsen
CYNTHIA FOLIO - USA
BORN 24 DECEMBER
Cynthia Folio (b. 1954) is a composer, music theorist, and flutist. As a young flute player and army brat, her main inspiration came from her studies at the Panama Conservatory in the 1960’s; there she studied with Eduardo Charpentier (first flutist in the Panama Symphony) and had rigorous studies in solfege. She received her Ph.D. in music theory and Performers Certificate in flute from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied composition with Joseph Schwantner and flute with Bonita Boyd; Robert D. Morris advised her dissertation on the music of Schwantner. From 1980 to 1990, she taught music theory and flute at Texas Christian University and played in the Fort Worth Symphony. She now serves as Professor and Chair of Music Studies in the Boyer College at Temple University, where she was honored with the Creative Achievement Award in 2012 and the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1994.
The author of many music theory articles and chapters, Folio focuses on the topics of contemporary music and jazz, including a chapter on Sequenza No. 1 by Berio in Berio’s Sequenzas (Ashgate Publishers); a chapter on polyrhythm in jazz in Concert Music, Rock and Jazz Since 1945 (University of Rochester Press); and an article on Schwantner’s music for Perspectives of New Music. Folio’s compositions are recorded on many CD’s, including a 2014 release, Inverno Azul, featuring nine of her compositions (BCM+D label); a 2007 release by the Relâche Ensemble, Press Play (Meyer Music LLC); and a 2006 release of Flute Loops: Chamber Music for Flute (Centaur Records), featuring eight of her compositions. She also recorded a jazz flute CD, Portfolio (Centaur Records), which includes four original compositions.
♫ LISTEN
One for Four by Cynthia Folio
One for Four by Cynthia Folio
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