Composers Selected to Create Musical Scores in Celebration of the Arizona Centennial
PHOENIX, AZ (January 28, 2010) – Arizona composers Sy Brandon and James DeMars, and librettist Alberto Rios, were selected by the Arizona Commission on the Arts (ACA) to create musical compositions in celebration of the Arizona Centennial (September, 2011 – September, 2012). The musical compositions – one choral and one for concert band – will be made available for performance by a wide variety of musicians, including high school, college/university, community, faith-based and professional or semi-professional ensembles. The commissioned works will be celebratory in nature and reflective of the unique historical and cultural aspects of the state.
The Arizona Commission on the Arts partnered with the American Composers Forum (ACF), based in Minnesota, to commission the works. Craig Carnahan, Vice President of Programs at the ACF, facilitated the review process. Panelists included Maryam Khoury of Chandler, local composer and member of Women in Tune, Laura Baldasano of Phoenix, Director of Education for the Arizona Opera and David Cripps of Flagstaff, Music Director of the Orchestra of Northern Arizona. Judith Walsh, an Arizona Commission on the Arts board member from Oracle, chaired the panel.
The scores of the musical compositions will be available free of charge on the website of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, www.azarts.gov, by July 2010.
Selected Composers:
Dr. Sy Brandon (Cottonwood, AZ) – Concert Band
Dr. Brandon holds the rank of professor emeritus of music from Millerville University, Millerville, Pennsylvania, where he taught for 24 years. His work has been recorded by the Czech National Symphony, the Philharminia Bulgarica and the Kiev Philharmonic. His commissions include the Boise Philharmonic and the York Symphony Orchestra. He has been recognized with numerous awards including the New England String Ensemble Competition, WITF-FM Classical Composition Contest and the annual ASCAP Special Award. His music has been performed live and via broadcast both in the United States and abroad, on NPR, Animal Planet and MTV’s Never Before Seen.
James DeMars (Tempe, AZ) – Choral
James DeMars’ compositions have been performed by the New York Choral Society, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Wuppertal Orchestra (Germany) and the Phoenix Symphony, to name a few. DeMars has been commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Heard Museum, Flinn Foundation, Art Renaissance Foundation and the European-American Foundation. As a conductor, DeMars’ performances include the national premiere of his work, An American Requiem at the Kennedy Center and national televised performances at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He holds a doctorate from the University of Minnesota and currently teaches composition at Arizona State University.
Alberto Rios (Chandler, AZ) – Librettist
Alberto Rios is the author of several collections of poetry, including books that have been nominated for the National Book Award and won the 1981 Walt Whitman Award, selected by Donald Justice. He has been recognized with numerous awards, including six Pushcart Prizes in both poetry and fiction categories, an Arizona Governor’s Arts Award and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Since 1994, Rios has been Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, where he has taught since 1982.
About the Arizona Commission on the Arts
One of 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies across the United States, the Arizona Commission on the Arts is an agency of the State of Arizona that supports a statewide arts network. The Arizona Commission on the Arts supports access to quality arts and arts education opportunities for all Arizona citizens; the development and retention of statewide jobs in the nonprofit arts, culture and education sectors; and increased economic impact in local communities through arts-based partnerships that develop tax and small business revenue.
We imagine an Arizona where everyone can participate in and experience the arts.
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Images available upon request.
