The Minnesota Orchestra has selected seven emerging composers to participate in its tenth annual Composer Institute: Taylor Brizendine of Los Angeles; Chinese-born Wang Jie of Philadelphia; Russian-born Polina Nazaykinskaya of Austin, Texas; Clint Needham of Bloomington, Indiana; Ben Phelps of Los Angeles; Thailand native Narong Prangcharoen of Kansas City, Missouri; and David Weaver of Philadelphia. The composers, who were selected from among 168 applicants, will be in Minneapolis from October 24 to 30 for rehearsals, seminars, and tutoring sessions, and a public concert of their works on October 29, led by Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Osmo Vänskä. The Composer Institute is presented by the American Composers Forum in cooperation with the American Music Center. Directed by composer Aaron Jay Kernis, the institute was founded as an outgrowth of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Perfect Pitch program, an annual series of new music reading sessions for Minnesota composers launched during the 1995-96 season.
Posted July 19, 2010
