1 JULY 2019

SANSAN YU CHIEN -TAIWAN
BORN 1 JULY

Sansan Chien (Chinese: 簡郁珊; pinyin: Jiǎn Yùshān) was a composer of contemporary classical music. Chien was well known in Taiwan for her teaching of music theory and composition.She was born 1 July 1967 in Changhua, Taiwan, and grew up in the Taichung area. When she was fifteen, her family moved to the United States, settling in Sylvania, Ohio where she completed her high school education. She then earned a bachelor of music degree in piano performance from The University of Toledo Department of Music (1989), a master's degree in music composition from the Ohio University School of Music (1991), and a doctor of music degree in music composition from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (1997). During the time of her studies at Indiana University she became a naturalized US citizen, but opted to retain her ROC (Taiwan) citizenship as well.

Dr. Chien was a full-time assistant professor of music theory and composition at the National Kaohsiung Normal UniversityDepartment of Music from 1997 to 2011. Previously, she was a part-time instructor of music composition at The University of Indianapolis and an associate instructor of music composition and related courses at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She was much appreciated by the many students she taught, especially those at National Kaohsiung Normal University. She was also instrumental in helping to organize the music curriculum at NKNU and dramatically improved the level of music theory and music composition instruction there. Together with her husband, Paul San Gregory, a composer and professor of music, they created an intense and encouraging learning environment that has benefited many NKNU graduates. For many years they also created and directed the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble at NKNU, which was the only university-run new music ensemble in Taiwan at the time.

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Dolly's Family by Sansan Yu Chien

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ALICIA TERZIAN - ARGENTINA 

BORN 1 JULY

Born in Córdoba, Argentina, , Alicia Terzian is a composer, conductor and musicologist of Armenian origin.

She studied in the National Conservatory of Music and Drama of Buenos Aires with the musicians Alberto Ginastera, Gilardo Gilardi, Roberto García Morillo, Floro Ugarte, Pedro Saenz, the poet Pedro Miguel Obligado, where she graduated in piano (1954) and was awarded the First Prize and Gold Medal in composition in Alberto Ginastera´s professorship (1959).

In 1962 she travelled to Europe to study the religious medieval Armenian music from IVth to XIIth centuries with Father Dr. Leoncio Dayan at the Mekhitarist Monastery in Saint Lazaro, Venice. She finished her musical studies of orchestra conducting with Mariano Drago and later on, electronic music.

Her activities as composer, conductor, musicologist and promoter of contemporary music has given her – since her youth – the acknowledge not only in her country but also abroad.

She was the recipient of numerous prizes, among the most important are the Orchestral Composition First Prize by the Municipalidad of Buenos Aires City (1964); ‘Francisco Solano’ Prize for her promotion of the Argentine music (1968), the Outstanding Young Yearly Award by the Junior Chamber of Buenos Aires (1970); National Funds for the Arts for her work Atmósferas and Concert for Violin and Orchestra (1970); the First National Prize of Music for her work Voces (1982); the International Prize Gomidas by the Composers Association of Armenia (1983); the Academic Palms by the Government of France; the Saint Sahak and Saint Mesrop decorations and the Papal Bull by Pope Vazkén Ist of the Armenian Church (1992); the ‘Alberto Castilla’ Medal of Colombia (1994); the Miró-Picasso Medal given by the General Director of the Unesco (1995).

Terzian has also developed her activities in the field of superior and university education in the Municipal Conservatory, the National Conservatory of Music (IUNA) in Didactic of Music, Pedagogy, Harmony, Instrumentation, Orchestration and Counterpoint; the Superior School of Fine Arts of the National University of La Plata (History of Music); Superior Institute of Arts of the Colón Opera House ( History of Opera); The History of Music in Argentina in the programme Introduction to the Argentine Culture of the Foreing Affairs Service of the Argentine Republic, and for the National Institute of Public Administration (INASP) of the Government of the Argentine Republic.

Her activities as lecturer are also remarkable, which she has developed in Europe, Asia and the Three Americas thanks to her fluency in French, English, Italian, Armenian and Spanish.

♫ LISTEN

Toccata Op. 4 by Alicia Terzian 

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21 JUNE 2019

BEATRIZ FERREYRA - ARGENTINA
BORN 21 JUNE

Beatriz Mercedes Ferreyra is an Argentine composer.

Ferreyra was born in Cordoba, Argentina, and studied piano with Celia Bronstein in Buenos Aires. She continued her study of music with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and Edgardo Canton, Earle Brown and György Ligeti in Germany.

In 1963 she took a position in the research department of the Office de Radiodiffusion Television Francaise (ORTF), working with the Groupe de Recherches Musicales(GRM) directed by Pierre Schaeffer. She assisted with Henri Chiarucci's and Guy Reibel's Rapport entre la hauteur et la fondamentale d'un son musical, published in 1966 in Revue Internationale d'Audiologie and Pierre Schaeffer's Solfège de l'Objet Sonore. During this time she also lectured at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris.  She worked with Bernard Baschet and his Structures Sonores in 1970, and served residencies in electronic music with Dartmouth College in 1976 and in 1998.

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Canto del loco by Beatríz Ferreyra

➺ Beatriz Ferreyra's Website

JUDITH BINGHAM - UK 

BORN 21 JUNE

Born in Nottingham, and raised in Mansfield and Sheffield, Judith Bingham began composing as a small child, before studying composition and singing at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Her composition studies there with Alan Bush and Eric Fenby were later supplemented by lessons from Hans Keller. She was awarded the Principal's prize in 1971, and 6 years later the BBC Young Composer award. Recent composition prizes include: the Barlow Prize for a cappella music in 2004, two British Composer Awards in 2004 for The Christmas Truce (choral) and Missa Brevis: The Road to Emmaeus (liturgical), one in 2006 for My Heart Strangely Warmdand the instrumental award in 2008 for Fantasia. She was once again nominated for an award in 2009 for Shakespeare Requiem, a Leeds Festival Chorus commission.

Although Bingham's output is notable for the number and variety of its choral works, she has always been seen as an all-rounder and the scope of her activities has included pieces for brass band, symphonic wind ensemble and various chamber groups and solo instruments, concertos for trumpet and bassoon and tuba, and several impressive works for large orchestra. Beyond Redemption (1995) was a BBC commission for the BBC Philharmonic and The Temple at Karnak (1996) was commissioned by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Chartres, a significant work for large symphony orchestra, was performed to great acclaim by the BBC Philharmonic under Jane Glover in 1994, and was recently conducted by James MacMillan in Liverpool Cathedral as part of the BBC/Royal Philharmonic Society's 'Encore' project. She has written a substantial body of pieces for organ including Jacob's Ladder, a concerto for Stephen Cleobury and Philip Brunelle. A CD of her organ music performed by Tom Winpenny was released on the Naxos label in 2010. The Ivory Tree, a music-drama for soloists, chorus and ensemble, had its first complete performances in Bury St. Edmunds Cathedral in May 2005. A carol God would be born in thee was performed at the King's College Cambridge Nine Lessons and Carols at Christmas 2004 and was released by EMI on the CD On Christmas Day. Her works in recent years have included See and Keep Silent for the BBC Singers and Guy Johnston, performed on Good Friday at King's College Cambridge, and Shadow Aspect for choir, organ and timpani, written for the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union. A set of solo violin pieces called The Lost Works of Paganini was performed by Peter Sheppard Skaerved on Paganini's violin in Genoa and London.

Recent premieres include Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, a new piece for Girl’s Voices (SSA) commissioned by the City of London Festival and first performed on 28 of June, 2014, by the girls’ choirs of Southwark and Guildford Cathedral, in Southwark Cathedral, London. This piece sets the words of Elizabeth Cook that describe the Camargue legend of Mary Jacobus and Mary Salome (two of the Marys who witnessed the crucifixion) being put in a boat without oars and ending up in the Camargue in Southern France where they spread the gospel.

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Water Lilies by Judith Bingham 

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26 APRIL 2019

LAURA ANDEL - ARGENTINA 
BORN 26 APRIL 

Laura Andel is a composer and sound artist born and raised in Argentina, currently based in Harlem, New York City. Her creative processes revolve around sound, music drawing, instrument building, installation, and performance.

One of Laura Andel’s main interests is exploring diverse combinations of instruments for her music, and collaborating with musicians from different musical and cultural backgrounds. Described as someone who “seeks to expand our sense of time, form and perception through sound” by Evening Music (WNYC, New York Public Radio), Andel combines written music with a variety of approaches to improvisation and conducting to create different symmetries between the written and non-written. She has composed and conducted music for small and large orchestras, Jazz Big Band, Symphony Orchestra, and for instruments such as Javanese Gongs, Argentinean Bandoneon, Brazilian Berimbau, Russian Theremin, Ecuadorian Dulzainas, and Mochican Seashell-shaped Ceramic Trumpet.

Her creative process also investigates the visual manifestations of music and sound by way of creating original music drawings and graphic scores that initiate an intimate dialogue between sound and its representation. She has created works in pencil, ink, watercolor, acrylic, and collage.

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Shadow Walk by Laura Andel 

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NA CASTELLOZA - FRANCE   

Na Castelloza (fl. early 13th century) was a noblewoman and trobairitz from Auvergne.

According to her later vida, Castelloza was the wife of Turc de Mairona, probably the lord of Meyronne. Turc's ancestors had participated in a Crusade around 1210 or 1220, which was the origin of his name (meaning "Turk"). She was reputed to have been in love with Arman de Brion, a member of the house of Bréon and of greater social rank than her, about whom she wrote several songs. Her vida records her to have been "very gay", "very learned", and "very beautiful". Only three—perhaps four if recents scholarship is accepted—of her songs (all cansos) survive, all without music. This, however, makes her at least the second most prolific of trobairitz in terms of surviving works: only Beatriz de Dia certainly has more, with four cansos to her name. The subject of all her poems is courtly love. 

Compared with Beatriz de Dia, Castelloza is a more conservative poet. Her persona throughout her works is consistent and though she raises the tension between conditional and unconditional love she always remains committed to absolute fidelity.

One scholar, Peter Dronke, has seen Castelloza's songs as forming a lyric cycle.

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Ja de Cantar by Na Castelloza

14 APRIL 2019

EDIE HILL - USA   
BORN 14 APRIL

Described as “flat out beautiful” and “full of mystery,” (Stereophile Magazine), Edie Hill’s music is performed all over the world. Venues have included Lincoln Center, Musis Sacrum in Arnhem, Holland, LA County Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Minneapolis’ Walker Arts Center, St. Paul’s Schubert Club, The Cape May Festival (NJ), The Downtown Arts Festival (NYC), Liviu Cultural Center (Romania), Feszek Müvészklub (Budapest), concert halls in Bangkok (Thailand), Dublin (Ireland), Reykjavik (Iceland), Moscow (Russia) Brazil, France,Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Baltic States and The United Arab Emirates.

She has been commissioned to compose for solo voice to choir, solo instrumental to orchestral and mass band, miniature to full evening drama; and loves the challenge of exploring all combinations including electroacoustic and mixed media.

Mentorship is integral to her life as a composer. She’s served as Composer in Residence at St. Paul’s Schubert Club from 2005-2017 where she ran and grew the Mentorship Program for gifted high school composers . Hill has also been Composer Mentor for MN Varsity, a program for composers 14-18 years of age co-sponsored by The American Composers Forum and Classical Minnesota Public Radio. She has lectured at colleges, universities and various institutions in the States and abroad.

A three-time McKnight Artist Fellow and a two-time Bush Artist Fellow, Hill has received grants from the Jerome Foundation, ASCAP, New Music USA, Meet The Composer and Chamber Music America. After earning a B.A. from Bennington College in Vermont under the tutelage of Vivian Fine, Hill moved from her native New York to Minneapolis where she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Minnesota with principal composition teacher, Lloyd Ultan. She has also studied extensively with Libby Larsen.

Composing is a life-long love. Writing music is always an opportunity to research, learn, muse, reach down deep, and allow inspiration to come from the stuff of life. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she free-lances and runs Hummingbird Press through which all of her works are available for perusal and sale.

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Poem for 2084 by Edie Hill 

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ISABEL ARETZ - ARGENTINA 

BORN 14 APRIL

Isabel Aretz studied the piano under Rafael González (1923–31) and composition with Athos Palma (1928–33) at the Buenos Aires National Conservatory of Music, instrumentation with Villa-Lobos in Brazil (1937), anthropology (1938–40) and, with Carlos Vega, folklore and musicology (1938–44) at the Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Buenos Aires. She took the doctorate in musicology in 1967 at the Argentine Catholic University with a dissertation on Argentine folk music. She was an associate member of the Instituto Argentino de Musicología from 1938 to 1950.

After completing her initial studies, Aretz became a senior lecturer at the National Conservatory and began work as an ethnomusic researcher and composer. In 1937 her orchestral work Punto premiered at the Teatro Cervantes. In the next decade, she collected and recorded traditional music, traveling in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. In 1947 she married Venezuelan musician and writer Luis Felipe Ramón y Rivera.

She was asked that same year to organize the music section of the Folklore Research Service established in Venezuela, and she continued her research on folk music there. In 1966 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to record native melodies in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and Central America.

Aretz-Thiele founded the American Institute of Ethnomusicology and Folklore (INIDEF) in Venezuela and chaired the institution from 1990 and 1995. She became a professor of ethnomusicology at the School of Arts, Central University of Venezuela, and at Indiana University in the United States. She was also a guest lecturer at other universities in Mexico and Colombia.

Aretz-Thiele published a number of journal articles and about twenty-five books on American folklore, plus an autobiography. After her husband died in 1992, she was appointed a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Argentina, and she returned to San Isidro to live and work until her death in June 2005.

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Tres Cantos Indios bt Isabel Aretz

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7 MARCH 2019

IRMA URTEAGA - ARGENTINA 

BORN 7 MARCH 

Irma Urteaga was born in San Nicholas, Buenos Aires. She began her studies in Paraná (Entre Ríos) and continued in Buenos Aires with Lucrecia María Madariaga Gilardi, Josefa Hernandorena and Jorge Fanelli for piano and Beatriz Gilardo Henandorena y Gilardi for harmony. She graduated in piano in 1959, and continued studying at the same school, graduating in composition in 1971. Her teachers for composition were Roberto Caamaño and Valdo Sciammarella, for instrumentation was Roberto García Morillo, and for history and aesthetics, Carlos Sufern and Alicia Terzian.

After ending her studies, Urteaga performed as a concert musician and taught harmony at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música Carlos López Buchardo and operatic repertoire, vocal negotiation analysis and opera at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón. She was Columbus Theatre International Master (1974–1977) and director of an Opera Workshop in 1984. She was hired by the Opera Foundation of Ecuador to organize the lyrics for performances in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca from 1986-1988.

Urteaga has been the recipient of a number of composition and achievement awards. She has been Deputy Secretary (1973–1980), Second Vice President (1997–2000) and First Vice President (2001–2003) of the Argentina Association of Composers, Registrar of the Argentine Council of Music (CAMU, 1985–1993 and an Active Member of the United Composers of Argentina (CUDA, 1986–2005). She also served as Vice President of the Argentine Forum of Composers (FADEC).

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Tiempos de Memoria by Irma Urteaga 

► IRNA URTEAGA'S WEBSITE

MARGARET SHELTON MEIER -  USA

BORN 7  MARCH 

Margaret Shelton Meier, music educator, composer. George Eastman scholar, 1954-1958; recipient Atwater Kent composition award, 1980, Atwater Kent musicology award, 1980.

Instructor, Pasadena Christian School, 1958-1968; teaching associate, University of California at Los Angeles, 1975-1980; lecturer, California State University, San Bernardino, 1977-1979; instructor, Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, California, since 1980. Director music Trinity United Methodist Church, Pomona, California, 1982-1988

Member American Women Composers, Inc., since 1983 (vice president west coast since 1984), American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (award 1990-1997), National Association Composers United States of America, Music Teachers Association California (Pomona branch president since 1984, composition state composers' chairman 1974-1976), International Alliance of Women in Music. F C.

♫ LISTEN

Claremont Symphony: IV. The Return 

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