|
Madrigalia has been awarded the 2007 Chorus America/ASCAP Alice Parker
Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. Music Director
Roger Wilhelm accepted the award on behalf of the ensemble on June 9 in
a ceremony at the 30th annual Convention of Chorus America in Los
Angeles.
The award recognized Madrigalia’s adventurous programming during the
2005-2006 season, especially the world premiere performances of Glenn
McClure’s oratorio The Starry Messenger. Commissioned by Madrigalia
(with support from the American Composers Forum’s Continental Harmony
Fund) The Starry Messenger uses text from Galileo’s Daughter by the
Pulitzer Prize winner Dava Sobel. As described on All Things Considered
(May 20, 2006), “With shimmering cymbals and harmonic changes, the
composer represents the sun replacing the Earth as the center of the
universe in people's minds... a change that Galileo himself put into
motion.”
“It is a wonderful tribute to the members of Madrigalia to be chosen for
this award from among hundreds of choruses all over the United States,”
said Wilhelm. “We feel a special obligation to share this new music
with Rochester audiences.”
Wilhelm shared the exciting news of the award with Glenn McClure by
phone from California. "Composers face a huge challenge in this world
of limited arts funding. Music directors are usually reluctant to
premier new works because the old familiar ones are a safer bet with
ticket sales,” McClure said. “Madrigalia stepped forward and took a
chance on a new project, and we all have been enjoying the collective
success! My gratitude to Madrigalia and to ASCAP for supporting the
work of emerging composers through celebrating innovative programming."
The premiere brought with it an unprecedented opportunity for Madrigalia
to collaborate with students, dancers, visual artists, and scientist
historians. "Madrigalia was privileged to observe composer Glenn
McClure as he developed The Starry Messenger from initial sketches into
a finished work, and thrilled to bring the work to life in concert."
said Joe Finetti, president of Madrigalia's Board of Directors and a
10-year member of the bass section. "Each concert was an event
featuring not only wonderful instrumentalists to back up our voices,
but dancers and astronomers with their telescopes. Members of our
audiences reacted with great enthusiasm, it was fun to talk with them
and hear their reactions after each performance!"
Planning is already underway for more adventurous programming from
Madrigalia next season, with a March 2008 performance of Images of God
by Pulitzer-prize winning composer Robert Ward, and a Rochester
premiere of Canadian composer Eleanor Daly’s Requiem in May 2008.
ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
(founded in 1914 by Victor Herbert, Irving Berlin and John Philip
Souza), is the oldest, largest and foremost organization in the United
States that licenses the right to publicly perform copyrighted musical
compositions. The Chorus America/ASCAP Alice Parker Award honors Alice
Parker, a composer, conductor, and teacher known and respected
internationally for her individual voice and her passionate involvement
in the choral arts. The award recognizes a chorus for programming
significant recently composed music that expands the mission of the
chorus and challenges the chorus's audience in a new way. Winners are
selected by an anonymous panel of choral composers appointed by Chorus
America.
Madrigalia was founded in 1975 and maintains an extensive repertoire
that includes a wide variety of traditional and contemporary styles
exploring secular and sacred choral literature from earlier times
through the twenty-first century. Based in Rochester, Madrigalia
performs throughout western New York and is a proud member of the
Greater Rochester Choral Consortium, the Arts and Cultural
Council and Chorus America.
|
