Albany Symphony Orchestra/Dorothy Chang (3-week residency)

Listen (excerpt): Dorothy Chang's Fire Cycle (MP3)

Born in Winfield, Illinois in 1970, Dorothy Chang began composing at age 14. In addition to numerous chamber and orchestral compositions, her work includes music for dance, theatre, film, and electronics. Among the numerous awards she has won are the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the ASCAP Young Composers Award, and the Jacob Druckman Prize from the Aspen Music Festival. Chang holds a doctorate in composition from the Indiana University School of Music in addition to Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Michigan. Presently, she teaches composition and theory at Indiana State University.

American Composers Orchestra/Alvin Singleton (2-week residency)

Listen (excerpt): Alvin Singleton's 56 Blows (MP3)

After working for more than a decade in Europe, award-winning composer Alvin Singleton returned to the United States to become Composer-In-Residence with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Later, he became Resident Composer at Spelman College and was the 1996-1997 UNISYS Composer-in-Residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. His works for orchestra, theatre, soloists, and chamber groups have been performed around the world by countless orchestras and ensembles and in important international festivals. Singleton has also served as a Visiting Professor of Composition at the Yale University School of Music.

American Composers Orchestra/Anthony Davis (2-week residency)

Photo: Ray Block

Listen (excerpt): Anthony Davis' Wayang No. 5 (MP3)

Anthony Davis is best known for his operas, including X: The Life and Times of Malcom X, the recording of which received a Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary Classical Composition." His work has been performed by numerous ensembles and orchestras, and Davis composed the music for Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America: Millenium Approaches, as well as its companion piece, Perestroika. Recordings of Davis's work may be heard on the Rykodisc and Music and Arts labels.

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra/Naomi Sekiya (3-week residency)

Listen (excerpt): Naomi Sekiya's Blue Echoes for Orchestra (MP3)

Born and raised in Tochigi, Japan, Naomi Sekiya moved to the United States at age 18 and earned graduate degrees in composition from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Southern California. Her music has been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Warsaw Philharmonic, and the Orchestra of Colouras in Athens, Greece, among others. A revision of her 1997 composition, Dance in the Wilderness, was performed in October, 2002 in Florence, Italy.

Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra/David Ott (3-week residency)
Cited as one of the greatest contributors to American symphonic music in the 1980's and 1990's, David Ott's compositions are among the most frequently performed of any American composer post-World War II. After earning a master's degree in piano performance from Indiana University and a doctorate in theory and composition from University of Kentucky, Ott went on to serve on the faculties of Houghton College (NY), Pfeiffer College (NC), and most recently DePauw University (IN). He has been awarded the ASCAP Special Award for the past nine years, received a Fisher Fellowship twice, and was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra for the 1999-2000 season.

Meridian Symphony Orchestra/Samuel Jones (3-week residency)

Listen (excerpt): Samuel Jones' Cello Sonata (MP3)

Composer Samuel Jones acquired his professional training at Eastman School of Music, and came into prominence as a conductor, eventually holding a post as conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic. While founding and acting as dean of Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, Jones continued to compose, amassing a vital and active catalogue of works. He has won numerous awards for his music, including repeated ASCAP awards, NEA grants, a Ford Foundation Recording/Publication award, a Martha Baird Rockefeller award, and an honorary doctorate from Millsaps College in May, 2002. In 1997, Jones retired from the academic life and was appointed by Gerard Schwartz as Composer in Residence of the Seattle Symphony. He is now serving his sixth year in that position.

Mobile Symphony/Kenji Bunch (2-week residency)

Listen (excerpt): Kenji Bunch's Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra (MP3)

Kenji Bunch was chosen as Young Concert Artists' Composer-in-Residence by a panel of distinguished YCA alumni in 1998. His commissions from the residency were premiered at the 92nd Street Y, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Bunch has been commissioned by the English Chamber Orchestra, the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, the Ahn Trio, and the New Juilliard Ensemble, among many others. A native of Portland, Oregon, Bunch trained at The Juilliard School, and has received the prestigious William Schuman Prize for Outstanding Leadership in Music, the Lillian Fuchs Prize for Viola, and numerous ASCAP grants.

Seattle Symphony Orchestra/Chen Yi (2 week residency)

Listen (excerpt): Chen Yi's Duo Ye No. 2 (MP3)

The work of Dr. Chen Yi combines eastern cultural elements with western musical idiom, and has been performed extensively both in the U.S. and abroad by such prestigious groups as the BBC Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony, National Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, and the New York Philharmonic, among countless others. Dr. Chen currently serves as the Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her awards and fellowships include those from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lili Boulanger Award, the National Endowment from the Arts, the Chinese National Composition Competition, ASCAP and, for 2001-2004, the Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Vermont Symphony Orchestra/David Ludwig (2-week residency)

Listen (excerpt): David Ludwig's NightVision (MP3)

The work of composer David Ludwig has been heard in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Merkin Hall, as well as numerous international locations, including Canada, England, France, Italy, Japan, and Spain. Ludwig earned degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music, and continues to study at the Juilliard School while serving on the faculty of The Curtis Institute. He was the Young Composer in Residence at the Marlboro Music School in Vermont for three years. He was in residence at Yaddo Artist Colony and participated at the Aspen Music Festival with John Corigliano and Christopher Rouse. He has also had residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Academie Musicale de Villecroze in France, and the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.

Further information may also be obtained by contacting Mark Treviņo at Meet The Composer (212-645-6949, ext. 101) or Hilary Field at the American Symphony Orchestra League (212-262-5161, ext. 227). Guidelines for MUSIC ALIVE's 2004-2005 season will be available by May 1, 2003.

MUSIC ALIVE is made possible by a lead gift from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with additional support from the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.