Fort Worth Opera chooses Peterson's Voir Dire for 2014 Frontiers Showcase

Fort Worth Opera (FWOpera) revealed today the names of the eight composer and librettist teams from the Americas whose works have been selected for participation in the second season of the company’s critically-acclaimed, annual new works program, Frontiers, taking place May 8 – 9, 2014, during the last week of the 2014 Opera Festival. These eight selected works will be presented in the intimate theater-in-the round style setting of the McDavid Studio across from Bass Hall in downtown Fort Worth. The 20-minute excerpts, sung by artists from the 2014 Fort Worth Opera Festival with piano accompaniment, will be offered in two separate showcases of four works each on Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 6:00 – 8:00 pm, and Friday, May 9, 2014 at 3:00 – 5:00 pm.

Building on the success and popularity of the last year’s inaugural season, Frontiers has been expanded with the goal of seeking out works for future production in FWOpera's alternative venue series Opera Unbound. The program includes a distinguished panel of collaborative partners who will play a critical role in the long-term development of the Frontiers works beyond the Festival showcase. (Panel members listed below).

In announcing the selected works, Fort Worth Opera General Director Darren K. Woods, chair of the Frontiers panel, stated, “Frontiers has evolved in just one year to more of a developmental program than last season. Of the eight selections, there are some which are completed and ready to find a home with an opera company, while others are just at the beginning of the compositional process. By expanding the program and collaborating with people who specialize in the development of new pieces, we are able to move these works along a dedicated road to, hopefully, a full production somewhere.”

FWOpera Producing Director and Frontiers Curator Kurt Howard, commented on the newly expanded program, saying, “Our 2013 Showcase taught us all a lot about the lack of community among America's upcoming composers and librettists, and we have increased our efforts to help that community connect to each other and to our audiences. The works that are being presented in 2014 are a broader range of works in progress, from composers looking for guidance in the craft to teams that are ready to have their works presented to the public. We have also brought more of our colleagues within the industry to join us in the process and further open doors for these creative teams.”

The eight operas selected for the 2014 showcase were culled from 30 submissions, including two from Canada and one from Mexico, FWO says. They are:

•  In a Mirror, Darkly, by composer Christopher Weiss and librettist S. O’Duinn Magee.

•  Fertile Ground, by composer David Vayo and librettist Nancy Steele Brokaw

•  Precari, by composer Brent Straughan

•  Something to Live For, by Ronnie Reshef

•  Voir Dire, by Matthew Peterson and Jason Zencka

•  Safe Word, by composer Robert Paterson and librettist David Cote.

•  Alex in Transition, by Anthony Green

•  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Grammy-winning composer and librettist Herschel Garfein

Read more HERE and HERE.

Peterson's Hyperborea receives Honorable Mention in 2013 ASCAP Morton Gould Awards

New York, NY, March 28, 2013: ASCAP Foundation President Paul Williams has announced the recipients of the 2013 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. The young composers will be recognized at the annual ASCAP Concert Music Awards at Merkin Concert Hall in New York on May 17th, 2013.

Congratulating the Award recipients, Paul Williams said, "The ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards program provides recognition and cash awards to gifted young composers of Concert Music. This year, our dedicated jury selected 28 composers between the ages of 8 to 30 years of age from nearly 600 submissions. We thank our ASCAP composer judges for their efforts to select these talented young creators, who represent the bright future of American Concert Music."

The ASCAP composer/judges were: Derek Bermel, Lisa Bielawa, Steven Burke, Chen Yi, Doug Geers, Yotam Haber and Aleksandra Vrebalov.

Full press release HERE.
 

Minnesota Orchestra selects Matthew Peterson for 2013 Composer Institute

Seven emerging composers have been selected as participants in the Minnesota Orchestra’s 12th annual Composer Institute.  They are:

• Canadian-born Kati Agócs of Boston, Massachusetts
• Latvia native Eugene Birman of Oxford, England
• South Korean-born Texu Kim of Bloomington, Indiana
• Loren Loiacono of Ithaca, New York
• Evan Meier of College Park, Maryland
• North Dakota native Matthew Peterson of Stockholm, Sweden
• Michael Schachter of Ann Arbor, Michigan

 
Chosen from a pool of 165 candidates through a competitive process, the composers will be in Minneapolis from January 7-11, 2013, for rehearsals, seminars, and tutoring sessions, as well as a public “Future Classics” concert of their works on January 11, led by Music Director Osmo Vänskä and held at Ted Mann Concert Hall on the University of Minnesota’s West Bank campus.

“I am absolutely delighted to say that the competition for the seven top spots was fierce, with many more imaginative and innovative pieces than would be possible to program on the upcoming season’s single Composer Institute concert,” says Institute Director Aaron Jay Kernis, who chaired the selection panel.  “Our jury noted that the number of works of excellent quality made the final choices of composers and works extremely difficult.”  Other panel members included composers Augusta Read Thomas, Kevin Puts, Minnesota Orchestra Principal Conductor of Pops and Presentations Sarah Hicks, and Sean Shepherd, the latter of whom is a 2006 Composer Institute alumnus.

In addition to the seven composers chosen to participate in the Composer Institute, the panel named the following composers as alternates: Alexandra Bryant, Saad Haddad, Michael Lee, Nicholas Pavkovic and Chris Rogerson.  In addition, these composers were designated as runners-up: Adam Zahller Brown, Hermes Camacho, Daniel Davis, Stephen Feigenbaum, Gregg Kallor, Jordan Kuspa, Tonia Ko, Yuan-Chen Li, Douglas Pew, Benjamin Sabey, Daniel Swilley, and Justin Tierney.  Cited for honorable mention are: Brian Baxter, Joshua Bornfield, Alican Camci, Stefan Cwik, Paul Dooley, Michael Djupstrom, Joshua Groffman, Mark Jacobs, Nicolai Jacobsen, Ji Young Kim, Grant Luhmann, Kenji Oh, Jim Peterman, Sidney Richardson, Leanna Sterio-Primiani, Phil Taylor, and Fay Wang.

More information HERE

Third Angle Ensemble awards Peterson, Näcken, in inaugural New Ideas in Music Competition

Portland, OR: Matthew Peterson's violin solo Näcken wins the National category in the inaugural
New Ideas in Music competition. It will be performed at Third Angle's concerts April 26 and 27, 2012.

Press release HERE

Matthew Peterson wins 2011 Opera Vista Competition with Voir Dire

Houston, Texas: Matthew Peterson's chamber opera Voir Dire won the 2011 Opera Vista Competition. More information HERE and HERE.

Matthew Peterson receives 2010 BMI Student Composer Award for Reflections on the Death of the Beloved

Eleven young classical composers, ages 13 to 26, have been named winners in the 58th Annual BMI Student Composer Awards. Awards Chair Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, BMI President and CEO Del Bryant and BMI Foundation President Ralph N. Jackson announced the decisions of the jury and presented the awards at a reception held May 14 at the Jumeirah Essex House Hotel in New York City.

The award-winners for 2010 are:

Andrew S. Allen (age 24, studies at the University of California San Diego)
Paul Michael Dooley (age 26, studies at the University of Michigan)
Michael-Thomas Alexander Foumai (age 22, studies at the University of Michigan)
Eric Guinivan (age 26, studies at the University of Southern California)
Matthew J. Hatty II (age 21, studies at Hillsdale College)
Yeeren I. Low (age 13, studies at the Juilliard School, Pre-college Division)
Igor Maia (age 21, studies at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague)
Matthew Peterson (age 25, studies at the Gotland Tonsättarskola)
Subaram Raman (age 24, studies at the University of Michigan)
Derrick Wang (age 26, studies privately in New York City)
Nina C. Young (age 25, studies at McGill University)

The BMI Student Composer Awards recognize superior creative talent and winners receive scholarship grants to be applied toward their musical education. In 2010, more than 500 manuscripts were submitted to the competition from throughout the Western Hemisphere, and all works were judged under pseudonyms. Cash awards totaled $20,000. The Carlos Surinach Prize, awarded each year to the youngest winner in the competition, went to Yeeren I. Low.

The distinguished jury members for the 2010 competition were John Luther Adams, Richard Danielpour, Mario Davidovsky, Cindy McTee, and Christopher Rouse. The preliminary judges were David Leisner, Shafer Mahoney and Bernadette Speach.

BMI has given 543 scholarship grants to young composers over the years. Many of the most prominent and active classical composers in the world today received their first recognition from the BMI Student Composer Awards. The BMI Student Composer Awards competition is co-sponsored by BMI and the BMI Foundation, Inc.

Full press release HERE