Composer Jorge Grossman visits the University at Buffalo on November 17

The Center for 21st Century Music is pleased to announce a visit to the University at Buffalo by composer Jorge Grossman, hailing from Ithaca College where he currently teaches. On November 17th, 2022, he will give a lecture on his own music and give a masterclass to University at Buffalo graduate composers. 

Have a listen to his Siray III Concentric Squares performed by Klangforum Wien:

A little more about Jorge Grossman from his bio:

Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann (b. 1973) is a composer whose music reveals an innately lyrical vein within a texturally and formally complex modernist framework. His musical interests are multifaceted, and his pieces often reflect his passion for revisiting classical models. From hockets, troped passacaglias and variation forms to works for electronics or Peruvian indigenous instruments, his oeuvre is as diverse as his cultural background. The son of a Peruvian scientist and a Brazilian teacher and visual artist of Austrian extraction, he was born in Lima, Peru. When the terrorist organization, the Shining Path, became stronger causing massive unrest in Peru, his family emigrated to Brazil in 1989. Initially intending a career as a violinist, he stopped playing due to the effects of focal dystonia. After moving to the United States in 1998, he completed his graduate degrees studying composition with Orlando García, Fredrick Kaufman, John Harbison and, with whom would become his greatest influence, the American composer Lukas Foss. 

His music has been performed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, National Symphony Orchestra of Argentina, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Sinf+onica Nacional de Colombia, Peruvian National Symphony, New England Philharmonic, Kiev Camerata, Klangforum Wien, Boston Musica Viva, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Da Capo Chamber Players, Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble Wien®, Seattle Chamber Players, Talea Ensemble, ALEA III and the Amernet, Borromeo, Mivos and JACK quartets. A two-time Fulbright Scholar  (2016, 2022), his awards include a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship, Fromm Music Foundation Commission, the Aaron Copland Award, Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship, Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a fellowship from Vitae – Associação de Apoio à Cultura. He has been in residence at the Copland House, MacDowell Colony and Atlantic Center for the Arts. He teaches music composition at Ithaca College and is the director of the Ithaca College Contemporary Ensemble. In addition, he is Head of Composition at VIPA, Valencia International Performing Arts Summer Festival.

Composer Sally McCune visits the University at Buffalo on November 3

We at the Center for 21st Century Music are excited to welcome composer Sally McCune to the University at Buffalo on Thursday, November 3rd, 2022, to give a lecture on her own music, and to host a masterclass where UB graduate composers will share their works. She will be here in-person traveling from Ithaca College, where she currently teaches. Have a listen to her High Water Rising for Wind Ensemble (2018), performed and recorded by the University of Michigan Wind Ensemble, with Courtney Snyder conducting, here on soundcloud.

Check out her biography below:

Composer Sally McCune

Born in Detroit, McCune was educated at University of Toronto, California Institute of the Arts, and earned an MFA and DMA from Cornell University. Her principal teachers have included Steven Stucky, Roberto Sierra and Mel Powell. McCune’s music continues to gain national and international recognition with performances across North America and Europe.

Awards include a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Whitaker New Reading Session from the American Composers Orchestra, grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Fund Creation Grant, Meet the Composer, ASCAP, and the Aaron Copland Recording Fund. She has received numerous commissions, including those from the New York State Music Teacher’s Association, Society for New Music, Cornell University Chorus, University of Georgia Wind Ensemble, Ensemble X, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Ariadne String Quartet, Eason Trio and Melodia Choir of NYC. Her work is published by G. Schirmer, Hal Leonard and Heritage Music Press.

McCune has taught at Cornell University, Syracuse University and is currently on the faculty at Ithaca College. She has served as guest composer at institutions and festivals including Eastman School of Music, University of South Carolina, The College of New Jersey, South Shore Conservatory, Seal Bay Festival and Songfest and as Composer-In-Residence in regional public schools in Syracuse and Ithaca.