The Music of 11 Area Teen Composers Gets a Day in the Sun
FOR RELEASE Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Seattle Symphony to Premiere Works By Young Composers in April 23 Concert
Seattle, WA – As the culmination to the 2006-2007 David Diamond Young Composers Workshop, Seattle Symphony musicians will premiere chamber works written by 11 pre-college age composers in a free performance on Monday, April 23, at 8 p.m. in the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall. Each young composer will briefly discuss the inspiration behind his or her piece before its performance, providing audiences with the unique opportunity to hear the thoughts and musical ideas of the next generation of U.S. composers. Seattle Symphony Composer in Residence Dr. Samuel Jones will host the event.
This year’s concert features the works of young composers Benjamin Davis, Achil Jackson, Michael Matlock, Daniel Miller, James Myles, Matthew Peterson, Ben Roth, Catalina von Wrangell, Jason Wang and Julia Winn. Miran McPoland’s piece will not be performed. These students come from Bellevue, North Bend, Redmond, Lynnwood, Bainbridge Island, Olympia and Seattle. Their compositions include chamber pieces for woodwinds, strings and percussion.
The April 23 performance is the culmination of the 12-week workshop led by Samuel Jones, a prolific composer whose works range from orchestra to chamber compositions. In addition to his residency with Seattle Symphony, Jones has served as a conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic for eight years and was a professor of composition at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, which he established as founding dean in 1973.
The David Diamond Young Composers Workshop (DDYCW) gives students the opportunity to work on all aspects of composing, including writing themes, learning orchestration and preparing a final score with parts, all under the tutelage of Samuel Jones. The final chamber recital will premiere works by Young Composers Workshop graduates. All pieces will be performed by Seattle Symphony musicians. The DDYCW began in 1992 under the direction of Music Director Gerard Schwarz and former Composer in Residence Bright Sheng. Designed for pre-college musicians, the workshop was led for three years by Mr. Sheng. After his departure, the program was briefly interrupted, but was reinstated in 1997 when Jones began his residency in Seattle. After the death of David Diamond—one of America’s greatest composers and the Symphony’s longtime Honorary Composer in Residence—the Symphony named the Young Composers Workshop in his memory.
Current and former participants in the Young Composers Workshop have received national recognition, including the following awards: ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)/Morton Gould Young Composers Award, BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) Student Composer Award, the Delius Award for high school composers, Music Teachers National Association composition award, PTA Reflections award, and From the Top Public Radio International broadcast. Alumni of the program have gone on to study music and composition at the nation’s top universities, conservatories and summer music programs.
Participants are selected for the workshop based on scores submitted. The David Diamond Young Composers Workshop is a project of the Seattle Symphony’s Education and Community Programs Department. Free general admission seating will begin 30 minutes prior to the performance.
*Program
David Diamond Young Composer Workshop Recital
Monday, April 23, at 8 p.m.
Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall
Benaroya Hall
Seattle Symphony Musicians
Zartouhi Dombourian-Eby, flute
Ben Hausmann, oboe
Larey McDaniel, clarinet
Mike Gamburg, bassoon
Mariel Bailey, violin
Stephen Bryant, violin
Bruce Bailey, cello
Jennifer Godfrey, bass
Beau Metro Quartet
Stephen Bryant, violin
Tom Dziekonski, violin
Sue Jane Bryant, viola
Virginia Dziekonski, cello
Matthew Kocmieroski, percussion
Benjamin Davis The Puppet Show
Achil Jackson Symphony of Thunder
I
II
III
Daniel Miller String Quartet No. 1
Adagio misterioso
Lentp luminoso e flautando (in memory of György Ligeti)
Presto brilliante molto spirito
James Myles C’est vient…(It’s Coming)
Prélude
Lent
C;est vient…!
Matt Peterson Grace
Ben Roth Indago Felix
Jason Wong String Quintet in C minor
Julia Winn Nocturne # 1
Catalina von Wrangell Set Design Set
Michael Matlock Fantasie
* All programs and artists subject to change.
Young Composers Workshop Participant Biographies
11-year-old Benjamin Davis of Bellevue, is the youngest participant in the 2007 Young Composers Workshop. He is a 6th grader at the Evergreen School, and studies music composition with Sharon Van Valin. Davis has been a national finalist in the MTNA Student Composition Competition for several years. He plays the piano, violin and guitar. He also enjoys playing chess.
Achil Jackson of Seattle is a 16-year-old Running Start student from Seattle. She studies harp and voice and has sung with several choirs in the Seattle area. Jackson composed and performed original music for the Young Shakespeare Workshop in the summers of 2005 and 2006. She plans to further her studies in composition and hopes to transfer to the University of Washington School of Music.
Michael Matlock of North Bend is returning for his third year with the David Diamond Young Composers Workshop. He plays piano and guitar and is involved with the Academy of Music Northwest. Matlock has a passion for theatre and recently composed the score for an original musical. He plans to further his composition studies and hopes to write for Broadway.
Miran McPoland is a junior at Garfield High School in Seattle. She studies the violin and plays with the Garfield Symphony Orchestra. She enjoys soccer, sewing, traveling with Garfield’s Global Technology Academy (this winter to Guatamala) and teaching violin to disadvantaged elementary school students. She hopes to continue her composition studies at university.
Daniel Miller, a 17-year old homeschooler from Redmond, is returning for his third year with the Young Composers Workshop. An active musician, Miller studies violin, viola, piano and voice with various teachers in the area. He also studies music theory and composition with Eric Flesher and Dorothy Klotzman at the Academy of Music Northwest; last year he was a recipient of the Academy’s Ron Sonntag Award for Composition. He attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts in the summer of 2006, where his orchestral fanfare 451 was played by the World Youth Symphony Orchestra. Earlier this spring his music was featured on Classical Edge, a radio show broadcast on KSER 90.7 FM. Upcoming performances include the premier of his Raga Set, written for Barbara Balatero Cello Orchestra, and the premier of his new Piano Trio at the Academy. Millerl plans to continue composing in college and hopes to eventually earn a doctorate in composition. is heavily involved with the Academy of Music Northwest where he studies composition. Daniel plans to continue his composing and hopes to earn a doctorate in composition.
Lynnwood’s James Myles is a junior at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, where he is an active member in the music program. He plays baritone saxophone, bassoon, euphonium-just to name a few. Myles plans to go to college and study music performance and composition.
Matthew Peterson, an 18-year old homeschooler from Seattle, is returning for his second year with the Young Composers Workshop. An accomplished pianist, he enjoys performing for weddings, receptions, dinner parties, and other special occasions. Matthew has made two CDs of his original piano compositions, “Renaissance,” and “The Paradise Suite.” Matthew plans to double major in music performance and composition and he aspires to someday be a film composer.
Ben Roth, a senior at Bainbridge High School, is returning for his fifth nonconsecutive year with the Young Composers Workshop. He studies piano with Claire Marshall and William Chapman Nyaho and plays in the school drumline and wind ensemble. He has won first place three times in the Washington State Music Teachers Young Composers Project.
Catalina von Wrangell, a senior at the Tacoma School of the Arts, is new to the Young Composers Workshop. A resident of Olympia, she participates in various student orchestras in the Greater Olympia area. Catalina plays the clarinet, oboe, alto saxophone, and piano. She plans to major in composition and aspires to work in the music industry someday.
Jason Wang is a freshman at Newport High School. He studies piano and violin and started composing music last year. Jason plays with the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra and competes in various piano competitions. He is also an athlete participating in karate, cross-country, and tennis.
Julia Winn, currently a senior at Holy Names Academy, is in her second year with the Young Composers Workshop. She has studied composition at the Academy of Music Northwest and has taken film scoring classes at Soundbridge through the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. Julia recently won 3rd place in the Washington state Music Teachers Association Composition Competition and has written and recorded the scores for several short student films. She plans to continue studying composition in college.