CAP Awards $30,200 in Support of Premiere Performances

Twenty-one composers have been awarded grants totaling $30,200 to support the production of materials for a premiere performance of their work under the auspices of the American Music Center‘s Margaret Fairbank Jory Copying Assistance Program (CAP). In total this year, the AMC has awarded over $85,000 directly to composers across the nation.

“The Copying Assistance Program continues to be an important source of support for American composers,” notes Richard Kessler, executive director of the AMC. “These premiere performances, some of which would not occur without CAP support, are beneficial to the continued success of our composer members.”

Composer Lior Navok illustrates the practical importance of these grants, especially for projects of unusually large scope. His work, commissioned by 20 U.S. wind ensembles to honor legendary conductor Frank Battisti‘s 70th birthday, is scored for chorus and large wind ensemble, “so the score is even larger than an opera’s score,” he points out. “Beside the score, there is of course a set of about 50 parts and a vocal score. Therefore, the AMC copying grant helps so much.”

Even well-established composers can benefit from the program. David Del Tredici‘s grant will support his continued exploration of new musical language. “The CAP award I received will enable me to hear scene one of my first opera, Dum Dee Tweedle. This aural reality is very important as I move into a new musical/dramatic arena.”

Tamar Muskal received a double award to support two different pieces—a chamber piece performed by Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and an orchestral work written for the Westchester Philharmonic. Muskal explains that even though both are excellent professional ensembles, neither had a budget to support copying. “I had no time to do it myself, so I hired two people to do it for me,” she explains. “Having the support from the American Music Center allowed me to focus on composing while my music went through the copying process at the same time. Having this great freedom from worrying about the copying is a wonderful thing every composer dreams of.”

Muskal also considers the long-term effect of the CAP support very important. “Many composers at the same stage as I am in my own career have many commissions, but since we do not yet have a publisher, there’s not always funding to take care of copying the piece. That’s why it’s so important to have this support—mainly financially, but also to give us the ability to compose and keep up with other commissions and obligations, in order to give us a further push to an even bigger career.”

Since 1962, the Copying Assistance Program, the first and still the only program of its kind, has been providing direct support to American composers. Over 1,000 AMC member composers have received a CAP award at some point in their career.

The complete list of this round’s Margaret Fairbank Jory Copying Assistance Program awardees, who range in age from 25 to 76, includes:

• Eve Beglarian—New York, NY, the bus driver didn’t change his mind (chamber ensemble), Bang on a Can All-Stars; Miller Theater; New York, NY
• Laurence Bitensky—Lancaster, KY, Awake, You Sleepers! (concerto for trumpet & wind ensemble), Royal Northern College Conservatory Wind Ensemble; Manchester, England
• David Del Tredici—New York, NY, Dum Dee Tweedle (opera), New York City Opera; New York, NY
• Javier Diaz—Santa Monica, CA, Alchemy (percussion ensemble), Aspen Music Festival; Aspen, CO
• Stephen Dickman—East Hampton, NY, Gilgamesh (chamber opera), The SEM Ensemble; La MaMa Etc.; New York, NY
• Randall Eng—Staten Island, NY, Florida (opera), New York City Opera; New York, NY
• Marty Ehrlich—New York, NY, (untitled) (multi-instrumental, extended jazz), Sert Gallery, Harvard University; Cambridge, MA
• Mark Hagerty—Wilmington, DE, High Octane (chamber ensemble), Relâche; Wilmington, DE & Philadelphia, PA
• Allan Jaffe—New York, NY, Mary Shelley (opera), Parabola; The Ethical Culture Society; New York, NY
• Robert Kritz—Chicago, IL, Concerto for Saxophone & Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra; Chicago Cultural Center; Chicago, IL
• Troy Lennerd—Salt Lake City, UT, Miniatures (string quartet), Palladium; St. Petersburg, FL
• William Ludtke—Oakland, CA, Suite for Handbells and orchestra, Sonos Handbell Ensemble; Tokyo, Japan
• Shafer Mahoney—New York, NY, Lydian Variations (chamber ensemble), Relâche; Wilmington, DE & Philadelphia, PA
• Tamar Muskal—New York, NY, Gloss (orchestra), Westchester Philharmonic; Performing Arts Center; Purchase, NY
• Tamar Muskal—New York, NY, Both (chamber ensemble), Le Nouvel Ensemble Modern; New York, NY
• Lior Navok—Boston, MA, Gleams From the Bosom of Darkness (wind ensemble & chorus), 20 U.S. Wind Ensembles (consortium commission)
• Scott Rosenberg—Hacienda Heights, CA, Chicago Suite (big band), Chicago Cultural Center; Chicago, IL
• Daniel Bernard Roumain—New York, NY, Human Songs & Stories (orchestra & narrator), San Antonio Symphony; Majestic Theatre; San Antonio, TX
• Elliott Sharp—New York, NY, Calling (orchestra), Symphony of the Hessischer Rundfunk; Darmstadt Festival; Frankfurt, Germany
• John Sharpley—Houston, TX, Concerto for Zheng and Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra; BaoLi Theatre; Beijing, China
• Andrew Earle Simpson—Shelbyville, IN, Agamemnon (opera), Catholic University of America; Hartke Theatre; Washington, DC
• David Strickland—New York, NY, Phoenix Park (chamber opera), Downtown Music Productions; Theater for the New City, New York, NY