BMI 2022 Student Composer Awards Announced by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

The BMI Foundation, in collaboration with BMI, has announced seven young classical composers, ages 19 to 28, as winners of the 70th annual BMI Student Composer Awards. This year’s ceremony was held yesterday at Tribeca 360 and winners were announced by the Chair of the BMI Student Composer Awards, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.

“Celebrating these young composers is the highlight of our year at BMI Classical,” said Deirdre Chadwick, President of the BMI Foundation. “As emerging artistic voices, it’s so important for them to receive recognition and encouragement, and we are thrilled to honor their achievements.”

The 2022 award winners are:

• Cheng Jin Koh, 26 - Awarded the William Schuman Prize for most outstanding score; Student of Elizabeth Hoffman at New York University

• Oliver Kwapis, 25 - Student of Jeffrey Stolet at Oregon University School of Music and Dance

• Alan W. Mackwell, 24 - Student of John McDonald at Tufts University

• Abel M.G.E., 28 - Student of Julian Anderson

• Sehyeok (Joseph) Park, 19 - Student of Abigail Richardson-Schulte at the University of Toronto; Awarded the Carlos Surinach Prize honoring the youngest winner of the competition

• Nina Shekhar, 27 - Student of Donnacha Dennehy at Princeton University

• Kari Watson, 24 - Student of Augusta Read Thomas at the University of Chicago

Read the full report here.

BMOP Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Portrait Concert Garners Rave Reviews

On April 8, Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) presented its “Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Portrait Concert” featuring four of Ellen’s orchestral works: Upbeat! (1998), Concerto Elegia for flute and orchestra (2015), Commedia dell’Arte for violin and orchestra (2012), and Symphony No. 5 (2008). The reviews are in:

“It may still be true that many listeners know more about Zwilich’s accomplishments than her music, but it’s high time for that to change. Fortunately, BMOP recorded the concert for release on its in-house label BMOP/sound; unfortunately, we’ll all have to wait till 2023 to hear it. Until then, go to YouTube, pick one, and hit play.” -A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe (Click here to read)

“After the sudden death of her husband, the violinist Joseph Zwilich, in 1979, composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich began moving away from harsh, atonal sonorities to a lyrical style balancing light and darkness. Where other composers might wall off joy from sorrow and laughter from tears, Zwilich poignantly offers both at once.” -Aaron Keebaugh, Boston Classical Review (Click here to read)

“Though Taaffe Zwilich’s music relies heavily on contrasts among different instruments, rhythms, dynamics. and styles, it achieves these juxtapositions in a melodic yet refreshingly modern manner. The well-deserved applause for BMOP and its dedicatee honored both one of the leading interpreters of contemporary music and a composer thereof.” -Stephanie Oestreich, Boston Musical Intelligencer (Click here to read)

A New Work - Concerto for Two Pianos is commissioned by the Santa Rosa Symphony

The Santa Rosa Symphony just announced that they have commissioned Ellen to write a Concerto for Two Pianos. The work will premiered by the orchestra, led by its music director, Francesco Lecce-Chong, and soloists Christina Naughton and Michelle Naughton, May 6-8, 2023.

See the event here.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project Presents "Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Portrait Concert" on April 8, 2022

Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) presents an “Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Portrait Concert” featuring three of Ellen’s more recent orchestral works: Concerto Elegia for flute and orchestra (2015), Commedia dell’Arte for violin and orchestra (2012), and the Symphony No. 5 (2008). The 2020 BMOP-NEC composition competition winner, Lavell Blackwell, will have his Effleurage premiered by BMOP to open the concert.

“As BMOP kicks off its extended 2022-2023 Quarter-Century Celebration season, this return to historic Jordan Hall and portrait concert of an icon of American symphonic composition is not one to be missed.”

See the concert page here.

The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio Talks About Working with Ellen

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center hosted an online talk with the famed Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio in which host James Thompson talked with Joseph Kalichstein, Jaime Laredo, and Sharon Robinson about their four-decade career: working together, collaborating with others, teaching, recording, and playing new music.

Ellen, who has written six works for members of the trio, is interviewed about them, and Joseph Kalichstein, who describes their relationship with Ellen as “like [that of] Oistrakh and Prokofiev,” talks about how receiving “each new piece [of hers] is like adding a member to the family.”

Watch the talk here; Ellen’s appearance is at the 1:01 mark.

Dallas Symphony mini-documentary on "Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg"

“A Song for Ruth,” a 12-minute documentary video about Ellen’s work Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg, features interviews with Ellen, poet Lauren Watel, and pianist Jeffrey Biegel.

Watch the video here.

Dallas Morning News, Dallas/Fort Worth NBC preview "Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg"

The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas/Fort Worth NBC affiliate previewed the October 7 premiere of Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg with features that included interviews with the event’s principals, including Ellen. As NBCDFW quoted, “‘Act II is about all she tried to do to change things,’ Zwilich said. ‘She stopped knocking on bolted doors and started knocking them down. It’s all very active, getting rid of the dropped ceilings, the bolted doors and then helping women down from the pedestals.’”

Read the Dallas Morning News feature by Tim Diovanni here.

Read the NBCDFW feature by Kimberly Richard here.

Ellen, Denyce Graves, and Jeffrey Biegel talk about "Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg" with Dallas Symphony

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra hosted a Zoom talk with Ellen, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, and pianist Jeffrey Biegel about the upcoming October 7 premiere of Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg. DSO VP of Artistic Operations Katie McGuinness leads the conversation about Jeffrey Biegel’s inspiration for the work, the text by Lauren Watel and how Ellen shaped the piece, and Denyce Graves’s friendship with Justice Ginsburg.

See the talk here.

"Good Going Ellen" Peanuts cartoon on view at the Charles M. Schulz Museum

On October 13, 1990, much to Ellen’s amazement, the Peanuts cartoon strip was all about her. Ellen became good friends with Charles and Jean Schulz, and in 1997 Ellen wrote the piano concerto Peanuts Gallery inspired by the iconic Peanuts gang.

The strip that inspired it all is currently on view at the Charles M. Schulz Museum’s Strip Rotation Gallery, through November 8, along with its story:

“Charles M. Schulz referenced many empowered women in the Peanuts comic strip, including Billie Jean King, Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs, and Peggy Fleming. One inspiration for two strips, a daily strip and a Sunday strip both on display in this exhibition, was Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, the first woman composer to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Music. Born in 1939 in Miami, Florida, Zwilich attended The Juilliard School for music in 1975, and was also the first woman ever to receive a degree in Doctor of Musical Arts.

“Schulz heard about Zwilich through The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in 1990 and incorporated her into a Peanuts comic strip on October 13, 1990, which can be seen in this exhibition and on the back of this handout. The initial strip led to a friendship between the two, and in 1997 Zwilich composed a 13-minute piano concerto inspired by the Peanuts Gang.”

Read the full story here.

BMI Celebrates the 69th Annual Student Composer Awards

BMI and the BMI Foundation yesterday announced the six young classical composers, ages 18-27, who are the winners of the 69th annual BMI Student Composer Awards, as well as two who received honorable mentions. The awards recognize exceptional musical talent and potential, and include annual educational scholarships totaling $20,000.

The winners: Micangelo Ferrante, Elizabeth Gartman, Grey Grant, Lara Poe, Nicholas Denton Protsack, and Elliot Roman. Lucy Chen and Sofia Ouyang received honorable mentions.

Ellen is permanent chair of the annual competition, and this year’s finals judges were John Adams, Daniel Roumain, Kristin Kuster, and Sean Shepherd.

Read more, and hear the winning compositions, here.

Ellen 's final pre-concert talk at Santa Rosa: Writing her concerto honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg, friendship with Charles Schulz, predictions for concert life

In the final pre-concert talk this spring with Santa Rosa Symphony Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong, Ellen talks about writing the work honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg that will premiere in October; what she aimed for in composing Peanuts Gallery, her work for young listeners; her friendship with Charles Schulz; and what she foresees in concert life post-pandemic.

Watch the pre-concert talk here (the segment with Ellen begins around 14:00).

Ellen talks about the violin with Francesco Lecce-Chong before the performance of her Romance by Santa Rosa Symphony

The Santa Rosa Symphony’s April 25 concert featured Ellen’s Romance for Violin and Orchestra. In the pre-concert talk, Ellen spoke with Santa Rosa Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong about her favorites among the violin giants of the 20th century, at around the 24:!5 mark in the YouTube video.

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra featured in The Violin Channel's "New Music Tuesday"

Ellen’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra is the featured work in The Violin Channel’s “New Music Tuesday” on April 20, 2021. A video excerpt of the performance by Zuill Bailey and the Santa Rosa Symphony conducted by Francesco Lecce-Chong is included - see the feature here.

Northern California Public Media TV Airs Santa Rosa Symphony Concert Featuring Cello Concerto

Northern California Public Media: Monday, April 19 at 7:30 pm on KPJK TV in the South Bay. Also airing on KRCB TV in the North Bay on Sunday, April 18 at 8pm. Santa Rosa Symphony on stage with charismatic conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong and Grammy award-winning cellist Zuill Bailey performing cello concerto by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, the first woman to win the Pulitzer prize for music.

See program page here.

Ellen's Cello Concerto, Full Orchestral Version Performed by Zuill Bailey & Santa Rosa Symphony, Streamed Online

Ellen’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, the full orchestral version, was featured in the Santa Rosa Symphony’s ”SRS @Home” concert in March, a performance with soloist Zuill Bailey conducted by Francesco Lecce-Chong. The program also featured music by Samuel Barber, Charles Ives, and Jessie Montgomery. One of the concerts that the orchestra is streaming on YouTube, it is part of the Santa Rosa Symphony’s artistic partnership with Ellen this spring.

In a brief talk about the piece with Francesco Lecce-Chong before the concerto’s performance, Ellen talks about her love of the cello and its range: “the cello has an operatic voice … it is like an opera singer.”

You can watch the pre-concert talk here.

Ellen to write a work honoring the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has announced that it will present the world premiere of a new work by Ellen honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on October 7, 2021, at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center as a part of its 2021-22 season. Zwilich’s music will include texts by Lauren K. Watel and will be performed by GRAMMY® Award-winning Mezzo-Soprano Denyce Graves and pianist Jeffrey Biegel. Tickets will go on sale this summer at dallassymphony.org.

Denyce Graves, one of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s favorite singers, sang at Justice Ginsburg’s memorial at the Capitol in September 2020.

Read the Dallas Symphony press release here.

"CONTEMPORARY VOICES" CD WINS A GRAMMY

The Pacifica Quartet’s recording Contemporary Voices, showcasing works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Shulamit Ran and Jennifer Higdon, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet, a Cedille Records release, has won the 2021 Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance category, it was announced this afternoon during the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony.

Read more about the recording on the Cedille Records website.

Ellen is interviewed by conductor Harold Rosenbaum for "The Choral Connection"

Conductor Harold Rosenbaum interviews Ellen for his interview series “The Choral Connection.” In the course of the half-hour interview, Ellen talks about the “mystery” of conducting, her first lessons with Roger Sessions, her friendship with Elliott Carter, and advice for composers: “it’s not a straight line.”

Watch the interview here.

WRUU "Contemporary Classics" interview includes three full works

Dave Lake of WRUU, Savannah, GA, on February 9 aired a two-hour interview with Ellen that includes three full works: the Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet (performed by the Pacifica Quartet and Otis Murphy, from the Grammy-nominated Cedille recording); the Quintet for Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, and Piano (performed by the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Michael Tree, and Harold Robinson from the Azica recording); and the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (performed by Pamela Frank with Michael Stern leading the Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra from the Naxos recording). They talk about each of the works as well.

Listen to the full program here.

"Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Shines On Brightly" - San Francisco Classical Voice Interview

“We don’t know what music is, but for me, it’s the entire human, the brains, the heart, the soul, the guts. It should make you want to sing and dance. It’s sorrow and joy and everything we have as humans.”

Read the interview with Ellen on San Francisco Classical Voice, posted February 9, 2021, pegged to her post as Artistic Partner with the Santa Rosa Symphony in Spring 2021.