Jon Christopher Nelson has had two works selected for programming at the International Computer Music Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands, on 12-15 September 2016: Illusory Lines for 8-channel fixed media and Inside a Cloud of Butterflies for classical guitar and interactive electronics. The international jury selected 116 compositions for performance from approximately 600 submissions.
About the Program
The composition program at the University of North Texas is one of the largest and most diverse in the nation, with approximately 70 composition students and seven faculty members representing a variety of compositional aesthetics and approaches. Regular guest composer residencies, visiting new music specialists, and dozens of events each year provide students with a rich educational and artistic experience.
An interdisciplinary center within UNT’s Division of Composition Studies, the Center for Experimental Music & Intermedia (CEMI) provides a unique environment for the exploration of time-based arts and is internationally renowned for its long history of innovation, particularly in the realm of electroacoustic music. Students, faculty, guests, and collaborators from a variety of disciplines engage in research, creation, and performance in CEMI’s six production studios and the Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater.
Music Now is the weekly composition departmental meeting, an open forum for the exchange of ideas and information about the creation, performance, and understanding of recent music. These forums, which are typically scheduled Mondays at 11:00-11:50 am, feature presentations by UNT faculty and students as well as visiting composers, scholars, and interpreters of new music.
Nova is the new music ensemble of the University of North Texas. In keeping with its mission to present a diversity of musical, aesthetic, and cultural experiences, Nova’s repertoire ranges from 20th century classics to works that incorporate the latest musical innovations. Students in the ensemble have opportunities to work with faculty and guest composers and are occasionally joined by faculty and guest performers. Performances and workshops have included music by composition students as well.
The Spectrum concert series features new solo and chamber works for instruments and voices, often utilizing new technologies and intermedia. These programs are presented throughout the fall and spring semesters, and are listed in the calendar section of this website.
The Composers Forum is a student organization devoted to coordinating performances and bringing new works to public attention. The organization was formed to foster the spirit of collaboration between composers, performers, and artists of all kinds throughout the UNT community.
The Initiative for Advanced Research in Technology and the Arts (iARTA) is an interdisciplinary research cluster represented by faculty from across a wide spectrum of the arts, engineering and sciences. iARTA activities include scholarship, creative research and technical development at the leading edges of emergent media practice; the resulting research areas are represented by diverse forms such as telematic performance, immersive installation, robotic sculpture, mobile networks, and art-science collaboration. The cluster also publishes the MOEBIUS Journal, which explores the intersection of theory and practice in electronic arts.
2016-17 Guest Artists
Upcoming Events
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Aug28Music Now
- Introductory Meeting and CEMI Open House
- Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater
- 11:00am
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Sep07Student Evaluation
- Senior Recital Hearings, etc.
- Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater
- 12:30pm
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Recent Division News
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Faculty composer Joseph Klein has been named as one of two 2016-17 Faculty Fellows from the UNT Institute for the Advancement of the Arts. Klein will use his fellowship in the spring of 2017 to complete his large-scale modular chamber work, An Unaware Cosmos, to be premiered at UNT in January 2018.
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Alumnus composer Daniel Sabzghabaei (BM 2014) was one of three winners of the 2017 POLYPHONOS choral composition competition. Daniel will receive a $1,000 commission for a 5-minute new work that the choral ensemble The Esoterics will premiere at the POLYPHONOS Concert in October of 2017. The winners will also receive funds for travel and lodging to the premiere of their work next year.
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Undergraduate composer Jennifer Hill was one of ten composers from nearly 200 entrants selected for participation in the Next on Grand: National Composers Intensive, sponsored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
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Doctoral composer Seth Shafer has been selected as one of three finalists in the Lyra Society's Costello Competition for Composition for his solo harp piece Night in Arcturus Stream. As a finalist, Shafer will compose a new work for solo harp with a chance to win a $1000 prize, a world premiere at the Curtis Institute of Music's Field Concert Hall in May 2017, and a publishing contract with Fatrock Ink Music Publishers.
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Alumnus composer Daniel Sabzghabaei (BM 2014) was one of four composers selected by the choral ensemble Magpies and Ravens for their LINEAGE program. Daniel will receive mentoring from composer Paul Rudoi and the ensemble, culminating in two performances of his work Delbaré for SATB a cappella choir on 12-13 March 2016 in Minneapolis, MN.
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Undergraduate composer Ryan Ayres received Second Prize in the Voices of Change Young Composers Competition for his work twitch; composition alumnus Blake Turner (BM 2014) received an Honorable Mention for his work Elusive Trails.
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Alumnus composer Chaz Underriner (PhD 2016) has been appointed Assistant Professor of Digital Arts at Stetson University, beginning in the fall of 2017.
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UNT alumnus Eli Fieldsteel (MM 2010) has accepted a one-year position as an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Ball State University (Muncie, IN), where he will be teaching composition and music technology during the 2015-2016 academic year.
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Faculty composers Joseph Klein and Panayiotis Kokoras will have works performed at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival in June 2015. Other featured composers include UNT alumni Mikel Kuehn (BM 1989) and Yu-Chung Tseng (MM 1994; DMA 1998), and incoming doctoral composer Jinghong Zhang.