2007 Annual Report

The Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University is pleased to announce the commission winners for 2007. After reviewing 327 composer applications from nearly two dozen countries worldwide, the judging panel awarded Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez the $10,000 Barlow Prize to compose a new work for percussion ensemble.

Born in Mexico City in 1964, Professor Sanchez-Gutierrez studied composition with Henri Dutilleux, Jacob Druckman and Martin Bresnick. He serves as Composer-in-Residence at the Morelia International New Music Festival, in addition to similar duties with the Binghamton Philharmonic. Past awards include prizes from the Koussevitzky, Guggenheim, Fromm and Rockefeller Foundations. In 2000, Publico, a Mexican daily newspaper, named Sanchez-Gutierrez “Person of the Year.”

Sanchez-Gutierrez’s compositions receive frequent performances in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. He holds an Associate Professorship in Composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

For more information about Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Barlow Prize Winner, consult his website.

George Tsontakis’ Clair de Lune premiered on March 2 and 3, 2007 by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul Minnesota. The performance was re-broadcasted via Minnesota Public Radio on April 16, 2007.

On October 23, 2007 Tsontakis released his latest CD, Tsontakis: Violin Concerto No. 2; Clair de Lune; The Past, The Passion, which included his recently commissioned piece. The album received a positive review from Gramophone, describing Tsontakis as “Unafraid to go the expressive distance, from romantic to spiky.”

Kathryn Denos

Working as an intern for the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition was an incredible and valuable experience for a student of composition. Not only was it an opportunity to work with world-renowned composers of today, but world-renowned performing groups as well. As composition students, we initially concern ourselves with the techniques and craftsmanship of writing, but don’t often address the specifics, how-to’s and processes for getting our works known and marketed. Working with, and behind the scenes of, this event brought these important factors to light.

First, it is imperative that as composers we are aware of and enter various composition contests. These are necessary for one’s continuing individual portfolio, and are often asked for on contest applications.

Second, when writing for a specific contest, submit what represents your best writing in the genre asked for. This is what the judges looked for first in evaluating a score. During the Barlow adjudication, I saw many wonderful compositions and composers that didn’t get chosen simply because they didn’t submit works that exhibited enough use of percussion to warrant them as a candidate for the commissioned work, which was to be for a percussion ensemble.

Third, knowing which well-known performing groups are to debut the awarded commissioned work is imperative. This influences the style and techniques the composer may need to incorporate in their composition in order to excite and invite the performing groups to want to debut the commissioned work. We repeatedly asked the questions:

• Do you think this composer could write well enough for this particular performing group?
• Would it be exciting enough to receive multiple performances?
• Is the score clean and professionally notated?
• Did they submit a CD with a good recording?
• Is it good writing?

When there are hundreds of applicants and scores to evaluate, there must be something tremendously exciting about a work that makes it stand out. “Is it captivating from the very beginning?” Never underestimate the power of a great and memorable opening idea.

It was interesting to note that each application submitted a bid on what they felt was the monetary compensation needed in order to write the commissioned work, should they be awarded. Each applicant was to also include a proposal of the length of their intended work and a commitment of performance for it from some other ensemble group.

These factors helped determine whether or not a composer received a commission.

After many long hours of deliberation between the panel of judges and artists from the selected performing groups, compositions were weeded out, and finalists were chosen. Dialogue and input from each judge was respectfully noted and the scoring system began. Final decisions and awards were voted on diplomatically and reached by an undeniable majority. The process was truly its own work of art. The knowledge gained from this hands-on experience was not only indispensable, but truly educational and insightful.

I was the only returning intern to the Barlow judging session this year, and I have to say my experience this year was even more poignant than last year.

I had the opportunity to help Ray Dillard and Claude Baker as they made their way through submissions for the Barlow Prize. It was incredible to me that these men were able to decide on most submissions without having to hear the CD. I also remember they paid no particular deference to any one submission solely because of the composer’s name, and remember watching in amazement as submissions from the likes of Ligeti, and Wolff were passed up in favor of other, perhaps lesser-known composers. The same could be said about later when I had the opportunity to work with Melinda Wagner and Lansing McLoskey during the General and LDS commissions.

The thing I remember most about the group judging sessions was the dynamic between the composers and the performers, as their sometimes competing interests clashed over who should win the Prize. While watching and listening to the group hammer out decisions, I realized composer/performer relationships are so important. I quickly understood that without the performing ensemble’s input, the composers could very likely award a commission that would never be performed; and music, without willing performers, is just ink on paper.

One thing I remember happening this year that I don’t recall from the previous year was the sum-up session the interns had with Dr. Johnson at the end. It was a wonderful way to share with each other all the collected nuggets of wisdom we had individually collected during the process. I left the Barlow judging with a renewed desire to write, courage to seek more commissions of my own and above all, a deep feeling of gratitude for the enormous opportunity to witness and learn from this process. My thanks goes to the Barlow family and the Endowment Directors for making this possible. I hope the intern program continues to be useful to the Endowment in the future, because the little work we do is nothing compared to the lessons we take home with us.

I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to be an intern for the Barlow Endowment. It was an honor and privilege to associate with all of the wonderful composers and performers. For me, it was a week of intense learning and surprising enlightenments.

I spent the first day working with Anders Loguin and Lansing McLoskey. My initial observation was that it is vastly easier to judge a piece to be uncompetitive than to select a finalist. The former task was quickly accomplished without listening to a recording. Among the more than one hundred applications that were covered that first day, musically speaking, several gestural clichés rose to the surface again and again, mediocrity blended together and I began to see just what it meant for a piece to stand out.

The second day, the Board of Advisors and Guest Judges considered the finalists for the prize. It was fascinating to watch the judges explain their various criteria and to see the consensus gradually form, defining and refining the group. I recall a couple of themes from those meetings. First, when commissioning a piece of music, the performers’ aesthetic is important. The composers on the Board and the performer Guest Judges brought different, but equally valid, ideas about new music. Second, pacing is crucial to a piece of music to make it stand out as a clear winner. The final four or five pieces were perfect in this regard. They all had something to say and said it effectively.

The final day of judging was for the LDS and General Commissions. I worked with Daniel Gawthrop and John Costa that day, and again saw the same recurring themes in what the judges were looking for: pacing, freshness and individual voice.

The entire process from beginning to end was efficient. Credit should go to the Board of Directors for their organization and thoughtfulness. The applicants were regarded with respect, even the applicants who had not followed the guidelines. Every effort was made to ensure fairness and professionalism.

I hope that interns can continue to be utilized by the Barlow Endowment. Though the interns are ostensibly used to help make the process run more smoothly, the true benefit is to the interns themselves as they observe the judging and meet great musicians. I enjoyed chatting with the judges and learning about career options and how to be more successful. My notes from the experience will be of great value to me for some times to come.

As a music composition student, I have had many lessons, seminars, papers and projects. I have attended concerts and I have participated in many performances. I have learned much about music and, in particular, what things are needed to make a good piece of music. Through all my experiences and studies, there have been key moments where an event had a substantial effect upon my compositional practices. My time as an intern for the Barlow Endowment was such an event.

First, it was a great privilege to dine and rub shoulders with such experienced and proficient composers and performers. I learned much, and each had different perspectives and tastes in music, but all seemed to give the same advice to the young rising composer: get your music performed. And how do I get my music performed? Networking.

Watching the judging process was one of the greater learning experiences. To see them analyze the scores and listen to the music and hear their comments about each piece was priceless education.

There were so many times I wanted to ask questions about some of the music they were looking over and it was all I could do to sit and work quietly in the corner, getting the scores ready and putting in the CDs. I was also making personal, silent judgments about each piece of music and I was very happy that I was coming to the same conclusions that they were.

While observing the judging process, I also had a somewhat disheartening realization. I asked myself how my own musical works would stand up with the competition, and I came to the conclusion that many of my pieces would not make it very far, which had an immediate effect on the pieces I was currently writing. I now picture each of my pieces going through the same rigorous judging process, and this is helping my music (at least in my mind) rise above mediocrity.

I also learned what to and what not to send to such competitions. Some applications where discarded even though they were well written because they did not relate to the work that was to be commissioned. The judges where pleased when an applicant had taken the time to mark in the score and make extra tracks of the music that the applicant wanted the judges to hear. Seeing the inside of such a contest will give me an advantage when submitting work to various competitions.

There was a lot of work in the filing process and getting everything ready for judging, but it was well worth it. I feel I gained much more than I contributed. It was a pleasure to be a part of the wonderful Barlow Endowment for Music Composition. I can see it is a truly great gift for composers.

During 2007 Claude Baker was awarded the rank of Chancellor’s Professor and was presented with the Tracy M. Sonneborn Award by Indiana University.

According to Indiana University, “These professorships and the Sonneborn Award are meant to bring significant recognition to those members of the Indiana University faculty who have achieved local, national and international distinction in both teaching and research/creative activity.”

Baker was also recently been selected as a Composer-in-Residence for the 2008 Bowdoin International Summer Music Festival in Maine and as the 2008-09 Paul Fromm Composer-in-Residence at the American Academy in Rome. During 2007, notable performances of his music were presented at the Trigonale Festival in Klagenfurt, Austria, the Ruhr Festival in Essen, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival and at the Brahms-Saal of the Stadthalle in Karlsruhe, Germany.

In 2007 Daniel E. Gawthrop received a commission from the American Guild of Organists, among others. The resulting work, a four-movement suite for solo organ called Four Noble Gases, premiered in Baltimore in July by concert organist Eric Plutz.

Also in July, a new CD devoted to Gawthrop’s published organ music was released on the Grace Notes Media label by performer Dr. David Pickering. Additionally, a new choral work commissioned by Furman University premiered during the Piccolo Spoleto festival. Dr. Bingham Vick conducted the Furman Singers for the premiere of that piece, Stand Ye on the Mountain. Commissions now in progress include works for ensembles in St. Louis, Missiouri; Atlanta, Georgia; Syracuse, New York and Durham, North Carolina.

Described as “a major talent and a deep thinker with a great ear” by the American Composers Orchestra, Lansing McLoskey’s compositions have been performed across the U.S. and in eleven other countries. He has received commissions and grants from the NEA, Meet the Composer, Fromm Foundation, ASCAP, the Barlow Endowment, Music at the Anthology, King’s Chapel, Mormon Artists Group, Harvard University and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. McLoskey has written for such renowned ensembles as The Hilliard Ensemble, Speculum Musicae and the New Millennium Ensemble.

Recent premieres include The Madding Crowd at the 2007 Tanglewood Music Festival by Triton Brass, and two orchestral works – SLAM! and Chanson Pour Cordes – by the Frost Symphony Orchestra at Festival Miami 2007. McLoskey also received the Orovitz Award from the University of Miami, where he is an Assistant Professor. Current projects include new works for The Ibis Camerata and Dinosaur Annex Ensemble in Boston. Recordings of his music are released on Albany, Wergo Schallplatten, Capstone, and Tantara Records.

Steven L. Ricks received his early musical training as a trombonist in Mesa, Arizona. He holds degrees in composition from Brigham Young University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Utah. Ricks received a Certificate of Advanced Musical Studies from King’s College London in 2000, supported by a Graduate Research Fellowship from the University of Utah. His teachers and musical mentors have included Morris Rosenzweig, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Bill Brooks, and Michael Hicks.

Ricks’ prizes and honors include First Prize in the 1999 SCI/ASCAP Student Composition Competition, and four Barlow Endowment Commissions. He has been a fellow at June in Buffalo and the Composers Conference at Wellesley College, and his works have been performed by many leading contemporary music ensembles and performers including the New York New Music Ensemble, Earplay, the California EAR Unit, the Talujon Percussion Quartet, flutist Rachel Rudich, pianist Ian Pace and violinist Curtis Macomber. Ricks is currently an Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Brigham Young University where he directs the Electronic Music Studio.

Melinda Wagner, a Pulitzer Prize winning composer, recently completed a piece for the US Marine Band, which premiered in April 2008. Wagner is currently working on several new projects, including a work for the Juilliard String Quartet and harp, a piano quintet for the Left Coast Ensemble, and a new work for Orpheus. All of these projects are set to premiere in 2009. Wagner recently heard the premiere performance of her Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra, composed for Joseph Alessi and the New York Philharmonic.