Summer Composition Workshop
July 6 - 10, 2009, 1:00 - 4:30 p.m. daily
Summer Composition Workshop Downloadable Information Here
Aspiring composers ages 14 - 20 will broaden their horizons and hone their craft in a mix of group sessions and private lessons with professional composers from UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, the Community Music and Dance Academy, and Composers in the Schools. This intense weeklong experience can help young composers find their voices while improving their musical skills and entering the community of composers and new music lovers.
The focus of the Summer Composition Workshop will be a composition by each participant for the Workshop's ensemble in residence, made up of professional performers with a passion for new music. Throughout the week, Summer Composition Workshop composers will participate in seminar-style discussions of topics such as notation, music theory, orchestration, aesthetics of music, and text setting. Participants will listen to, analyze, and discuss masterworks by various composers, including music of our time as well as the great achievements of the past. Each composer will also gain hands-on experience with Finale notation software (experience with this or a similar program is preferred but not required) and will stretch his or her compositional abilities with brief compositions that build towards the larger project. The resident ensemble will present established repertoire and perform participants' exercises and works in progress daily. Private lessons will focus on the work for the resident ensemble but may also address other aspects of each composer's development. The Summer Composition Workshop will culminate with a public performance by the resident ensemble of the participants' finished compositions.
No composition experience is necessary, but participants should be experienced musicians who can read treble and bass clef, are comfortable with various time signatures and key signatures, and have some training in an instrument or voice. Participants will receive detailed information about the ensemble in residence approximately one month prior to the start of the Summer Composition Workshop and are encouraged to begin working on music for the ensemble in advance, although this advance preparation is not required.
Contact the Community Music and Dance Academy with questions:
- music-ce@umkc.edu
- 816-235-2741
Summer Composition Workshop TENTATIVE Schedule
Monday, July 6, 2009
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Check in and Introduction/Getting Started. Grant Hall, room 222.
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Guest Speaker: composer Mara Gibson. Grant Hall, room 222.
3:00 - 3:15 p.m. BREAK
3:15 - 4:00 p.m. The Compositional Process. Grant Hall, room 222.
4:00 - 4:30 p.m. Working With Transposing Instruments. Grant Hall, room 222.
5:00 p.m. OPTIONAL opening concert by Quadrivium, the Workshop's Ensemble in Residence. Grant Recital Hall. This concert is free and open to the public.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. OPTIONAL work time in the Grant Hall computer lab. Workshop Instructor Daniel Eichenbaum will be available for additional one-on-one assistance.
1:00 - 1:45 p.m. Seminar: Discussion of Student Works in Progress. Grant Hall, room 222.
1:45 - 2:45 p.m. Form and Development. Grant Hall, room 222.
2:45 - 3:00 p.m. BREAK
3:00 - 3:30 p.m. Working with the instruments of Quadrivium (flute, clarinet, cello, piano). Grant Hall, room 222.
3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Quadrivium: Introduction to the Performers; Instrument Demonstrations; Sample Repertoire. Grant Recital Hall.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. OPTIONAL work time in the Grant Hall computer lab. Workshop Instructor Daniel Eichenbaum will be available for additional one-on-one assistance.
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Discussion of participants' works in progress. Grant Hall, room 222.
2:00 - 2:45 p.m. Orchestration. Grant Hall, room 222.
2:45 - 3:00 p.m. BREAK
3:00 - 3:30 p.m. Score Study: Repertoire performed by Quadrivium. Grant Hall, room 222.
3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Quadrivium: Reading session of works in progress; discussion and feedback. Grant Recital Hall.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. OPTIONAL work time in the Grant Hall computer lab. Workshop Instructor Daniel Eichenbaum will be available for additional one-on-one assistance.
1:00 - 2:45 p.m. Discussion of participants' works in progress. Grant Hall, room 222.
2:45 - 3:00 p.m. BREAK
3:00 - 3:30 p.m. Preparing Parts for Performance. Grant Hall, room 222.
3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Quadrivium: Reading session of works in progress; discussion and feedback. Grant Recital Hall.
Friday, July 10, 2009
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. OPTIONAL work time in the Grant Hall computer lab. Workshop Instructor Daniel Eichenbaum will be available for additional one-on-one assistance.
1:00 p.m. COMPLETED SCORES AND PARTS DUE, NO EXCEPTIONS. Grant Hall, room 222.
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Guest Speaker: composer Nicholas Omiccioli. Grant Hall, room 222.
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. PERFORMANCE OF STUDENT WORKS. Grant Recital Hall. This concert is free and open to the public.
3:00 - 4:30 p.m. Open Master Class: Discussion of participants' works. Friends and family welcome. Grant Recital Hall.
Summer Composition Workshop Faculty Biographies
REBECCA ASHE earned her Bachelor's degree in Applied Music (flute) at the Eastman School of Music, where her principal teacher was Bonita Boyd. She earned both Master of Musical Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, studying with Dr. Mary Posses. In 1998, she was the only American and one of four flutists worldwide to be chosen for Trevor Wye’s prestigious one-year course in Kent, England. Other major teachers have included William Bennett and Karl Kraber. In 2007, Dr. Ashe collaborated with three composers, Christopher Biggs, Ryan Oldham, and Jorge Sosa to premiere three new pieces for flute. A recording project for the pieces is underway, with a release expected in 2009. Dr. Ashe has performed recitals throughout the United States, Canada, England, and Latvia. In 2003, Dr. Ashe and pianist, Inara Zandmane, gave a recital at the Academy of Music in Riga, Latvia. Dr. Ashe was the first American flutist to perform a recital at the Academy, which was broadcast on national radio. She also gave a master class at the E. Darzins Academy of Music, the most prestigious preparatory music school in Latvia. Along with her recent collaborations, Dr. Ashe has premiered several pieces, including the Kansas City premier of Chen Yi’s The Golden Flute, for flute and orchestra, in 2003, and Hsueh-Yung Shen’s …And Then Things Changed, for flute and piano. She was the winner of the UMKC Concerto-Aria Competition in 2003 and the Young Artist Competition Winner at Park University in 2005. Dr. Ashe teaches flute and music appreciation at the Community Music and Dance Academy.
DANIEL EICHENBAUM is currently working towards a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music composition at UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, where he has studied with Zhou Long and Paul Rudy. He previously earned his Masters of Music degree from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor of Music degree from the Pennsylvania State University. His past teachers have included Paul Barsom, Bruce Trinkley, James Aikman, and Evan Chambers. Mr. Eichenbaum’s music has been performed and published in both Europe and the United States. He was a finalist in Schirmer’s New Voices contest for band literature with his wind ensemble piece, 5th Avenue Rhapsody, which is published by Southern Music. Mr. Eichenbaum’s electronic music piece, Car Accident, is currently released on 60X60 from Capstone Records. Recent performances include the Montana State University Orchestra performance of his song cycle Three Women. His trumpet quartet, Goodnight, Alex, was premiered by the Mahidol University Trumpet Ensemble at the 2007 International Trumpet Guild conference. Appalachian Images was premiered by the Mahidol University Clarinet Ensemble and Rachel Dances by the Thailand Saxophone Ensemble. In March of 2007, Mr. Eichenbaum spent a week in Myanmar giving masterclasses at the Gitameit Music Center and oversaw the premier of his new choir piece, To the Evening Star. Mr. Eichenbaum was Instructor of Theory and Composition at Mahidol University, Thailand, from 2005-2007 where he taught composition and music theory. Previously, Mr. Eichenbaum taught for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s Young Composers Project where he helped students aged 9 through 17 create new works for orchestra and then see them read by the Tucson Symphony. Mr. Eichenbaum is the Composers in the Schools Coordinator and teaches through the Conservatory in the School outreach program.
MARA GIBSON is originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, graduated from Bennington College and completed her Ph.D. at SUNY at Buffalo. Additionally, she attended London College of Music, L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Fontainebleau, France and the International Music Institute at Darmstadt in Germany. She has received grants and honors from the American Composer’s Forum, the Banff Center, Louisiana Division of the Arts, Meet the Composer, the International Bass Society, ASCAP, the John Henrick Memorial Foundation and had internationally renowned ensembles and soloists perform her music throughout the United States, Canada, across Europe and South America. Additionally, Dr. Gibson has taught composition, theory, and contemporary music at several universities in Buffalo, New Orleans, and Kansas City. Upcoming projects include an a world premiere of D(u)o in three movements, a residency in Norway funded through the Trondheim Arts Council including a premiere performance of Fanfare, a new work for duo Contour based in Freiburg, Germany, and a premiere of E:Tip with Madeleine Shapiro in Bangkok, Thailand.
BLAS GONZÁLEZ is a pianist and teacher based in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to performing standard piano repertoire and chamber music, he has regularly played and lectured on piano works by contemporary composers such as Stockhausen, Crumb, Ligeti, James Mobberley and Gerardo Gandini among others, in venues in Argentina, Taiwan and United States. Recent appearances include Music Forum (Taipei, Taiwan), Imagine Festival (University of Memphis), College Music Society (San Francisco State University), New Music Festival at Heidelberg College, Jukejoint New Music Festival (Delta University in Missippi), Kansas City Art Institute and Missouri Music Teachers Association (Springfield, Missouri). An avid participant in unconventional projects, González is a collaborator of Argentmusica, a foundation dedicated to the performance and recording of Argentinean art music for piano and chamber groups. Together with pianist Ya-Ting Liou, he has started the Pangea Piano Project, with the idea of performing and premiering pieces from composers of all over the world, under the topic of cultural diversity. This project has been featured internationally and reviewed by the press. Over the years, González has premiered and commissioned several works for piano solo, chamber music and piano with electronic sounds, by composers Mark Snyder, Pablo Tarrats, Jason Bolte, Mario Rapallini, Mara Gibson and others. Because of his interest in contemporary music, he has played in masterclasses for specialists in the topic such as Dimitri Vassilakis, Haydée Schwarz, Gerardo Gandini, and Anthony de Mare. He recently completed a DMA at University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he studied piano under Robert Weirich; he also holds degrees from Ohio University and the Conservatory of Music “Carlos Lopez Buchardo” in Argentina. Former teachers are Alejandro Cremaschi and Aldo Antognazzi. As a pianist, he has received awards from Argentinean Funds for the Arts, United Composers from Argentina, Jrimian Foundation, Beethoven Foundation, Ohio University Student Solo Competition, Mu Phi Epsilon and Kansas City Music Club.
CHERYL MELFI has served as principal clarinetist in the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, the Catalina Chamber Orchestra, and the Michigan Pops Orchestra. She is a past member of the Crosswinds Ensemble, the Arizona-based wind quintet Fünf, and the contemporary music quartet THUD. She has also performed with contemporary music groups including the Kansas City Electronic Music Alliance, Contemporary Directions Ensemble, the Prime Directive, and the Nova Chamber Players, and has collaborated with several composers on new works for the clarinet. Recently she has premiered new works by Christopher Levin, Ryan Jesperson, and Daniel Eichenbaum. In 2008 she appeared as a guest artist and clinician at the University of Central Oklahoma and the Music Arts Institute, and her performance at the 2008 International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest was called “excellent” and “exotic.” From 2005 – 2007 Dr. Melfi was Instructor of Clarinet at Mahidol University in Salaya, Thailand. While living in Southeast Asia she served as faculty artist for the Southeast Asian Youth Orchestra and Wind Ensemble (SAYOWE), and presented recitals, clinics and workshops at the Asian Symphonic Band Competition (ASBC), the Singapore Bandmasters’ Workshop, the Gitameit Music Center in Yangon, and other events throughout the region. In 2007 she performed in Yangon with U Maung Maung, the principal clarinetist of the Myanmar Radio and Television Orchestra, in the first-ever collaboration between American and Burmese clarinetists. Dr. Melfi holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Arizona, the Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan, and the Bachelor of Music degree from Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music. Her clarinet teachers include Jerry Kirkbride, E. Fred Ormand, and David Bell. Dr. Melfi teaches clarinet at the Community Music and Dance Academy.
NICHOLAS OMICCIOLI earned a Master of Music in composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is currently the student chapter president of the Society of Composers, Inc. (SCI) at UMKC and is the Assistant Musical Director to the Musica Nova Ensemble. His current composition teachers include Chen Yi, James Mobberley, Zhou Long, and Paul Rudy. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in composition and theory from Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, where he studied composition and piano with Brian Bevelander and was the student assistant to the 18th and 19th Annual Heidelberg New Music Festivals. Omiccioli was the winner and judge's choice in both the 2007 and 2008 UMKC Chamber Music Composition Competitions and was selected to have his music choreographed by the dance department at SUNY-Brockport in New York. Omiccioli was the winner of the 2007 Brian M. Israel award and received a performance by the Society for New Music in Syracuse, New York. In 2005, he received the Ars Nova Composition Award and was selected as a winner in the Dance Rochester! Composer/Choreographer Composition Competition. Omiccioli is active with SCI, receiving performances at the National Student and Regional Levels. In addition to composition, he studies guitar with Douglas Niedt at UMKC.
MARK STAUFFER, a native of Parsons, Kansas, began his music studies at the age of 7 in the local Suzuki violin program. He switched to the cello at the age of 15. Soon after the fated switch, he was accepted into the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy to complete his junior and senior years of high school. He recently graduated “Summa cum laude” from the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory. He is currently a member of the Helios Quartet which performs in various functions around the Kansas City Metro Area. An avid Francophile, Mark has spent the past three summers studying music and French in both France and Domaine Forget in Québec. Mark’s principal and summer teachers have included such pedagogues as Carter Enyeart, Richard Aaron, Philippe Muller, Carole Sirois, Odile Bourin, Crispin Campbell and Dr. Carolann Martin. He has participated in Master Classes with Brian Manker and Philippe Muller. Mr. Stauffer teaches cello at the Community Music and Dance Academy.
