Alumnus composer Daniel Sabzghabaei (BM 2014) was recently selected for Beth Morrison Projects' new BMP: Next Generation program. Through this initiative, Daniel will be working with distinguished NYC-based chamber ensemble Contemporaneous and conductor David Bloom in a series of workshops in NYC, culminating in a performance of his work Two Reflections on The Belovèd at National Sawdust in Brooklyn on 17 March 2018.
Division news
The following is a listing of recent accomplishments and activities by students, alumni, and faculty of the UNT composition program. Items are listed in reverse chronological order and may be filtered using the menus below:
Sat, Mar 17 2018 |
Mon, Dec 11 2017 |
Alumnus composer Daniel Sabzghabaei (BM 2014) recently received a commission from the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) for a new work for soprano, baritone, and piano to be performed on their Next concert series. The performance will be on 11 December 2017 in NYC at the CUNY Graduate Center inside the Elebash Recital Hall as part of the Bernstein Marathon, celebrating his 100th anniversary.
Mon, Dec 11 2017 |
On 11-12 December 2017, Nothing in the Nothingness, an opera by alumnus composer Daniel Zajicek (MM 2006) and John Grimmet was performed by the Nautilus Music-Theater in Minneapolis/Saint Paul. This one-act operatic monologue chronicles the thought process of a young man trapped in a coma, and explores what it means to be alive and functioning in a vegetative state when consciousness is not possible. It featured Nautilus performers Eric Morris and Cathleen Fuller, with music director Mind Eschendor.
Fri, Oct 06 2017 |
Alumnus composer Daniel Sabzghabaei's 2017 POLYPHONOS commission work The Blue Booby, on a text from James Tate, will be performed three times (6-8 October 2017) by Seattle's leading choral ensemble The Esoterics on their concert GRAVITAS: Investigating Gravity.
Sat, Sep 30 2017 |
Alumnus composer Daniel Sabzghabaei (BM 2014) was selected as a VocalEssence ReMix Composer Fellow. He will be working with Minnesota's premier choral ensemble VocalEssence and composer mentor Timothy Takach in various workshop sessions on two new commissions for a cappella chorus: one will be premiered in the fall 2017 at the Minnesota ACDA conference, the other at McNally Smith College in the spring 2018.
Fri, Sep 01 2017 |
Landscape Series: 1 by alumnus composer Chaz Underriner (PhD 2016) is one of five works selected (out of 288 submissions from composers in 36 countries) as a finalist for the prestigious 2017 Gaudeamus Award in Composition. His work will receive a performance at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek in September 2017, at which time the award winner will be announced.
Thu, Aug 24 2017 |
Alumnus Composer Jonathan Camacho (BA 2008) recently composed the complete soundtrack to the film What Carter Lost, which premiered on ESPN on 24 August 2017 as a part of the Emmy Award Winning 30 for 30 series on ESPN. The film focuses on the 1988 Dallas Carter High School Football team that was featured in the movie Friday Night Lights. What Carter Lost can be seen on rotation on ESPN, as well as on the ESPN App and the ESPN 30 for 30 website.
Sun, Aug 20 2017 |
Alumnus composer Seth Shafer (PhD 2017) has been appointed Assistant Professor of Music Technology at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, beginning in the fall of 2017.
Tue, Aug 01 2017 |
Alumnus composer Ilya Rostovtsev (MM 2010) has completed his PhD in Music Composition at UC Berkeley (August 2017), and has accepted a position at Microsoft (Seattle, WA) for the position of an Applied Scientist, where he will be working on new music authoring tools.
Tue, Aug 01 2017 |
Alumnus composer Chaz Underriner (PhD 2016) has been appointed Assistant Professor of Digital Arts at Stetson University, beginning in the fall of 2017.
Tue, Aug 01 2017 |
Alumnus composer Ben Johansen (PhD 2012) has been appointed Lecturer in Composition/Music Technology at Baylor University, beginning in the fall of 2017.
Sat, Jul 15 2017 |
Alumnus composer Joshua Harris (PhD 2013) composed the soundtrack for the film King Rat, which premiered at the Indy Film Fest in Indianapolis in July 2017. The film won the festival's Audience Award. Also in July 2017, Harris' work Aubade for flute and electroacoustic music was selected for performance at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, where it was performed by UNT alumna Wayla Chambo.
Thu, May 04 2017 |
Nothing in the Nothingness, an opera by alumnus composer Daniel Zajicek, was one of eight works selected for performance in Fort Worth Opera’s Frontiers 2017 program on 4-5 May 2017. As part of the performance, Daniel and his librettist, John Grimmett, will be in residence at Fort Worth Opera for a week of rehearsals and workshopping.
Thu, Apr 20 2017 |
Eight UNT-affiliated composers were selected to participate in the SEAMUS 2017 Conference at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, MN, 20-22 April 2017: faculty composers Andrew May and Jon Nelson; student composers Miguel Espinel, Timothy Harenda and Michael Smith; and alumni composers Elainie Lillios, Jon Anderson, and Eli Fieldsteel. Also performing at the conference is faculty flutist...
Fri, Mar 10 2017 |
Graduate composers Michael Smith, Jacob Thiede, Bihe Wen, and Jinghong Zhang will have works presented and performed at the National Student Electronic Music Event (NSEME 2017), 10-11 March 2017 at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA.
Mon, Feb 20 2017 |
Alumnus composer Daniel Sabzghabaei (BM 2014) was recently selected as a composer fellow for the 2017 Intimacy of Creativity Festival in Hong Kong. Daniel will be working in collaboration with Master of the Queen’s Music, Judith Weir, co-founder/associate artistic director of the New York Festival of Song, Michael Barrett, acclaimed tenor Jonathan Blalock, and internationally renowned composer and artistic director of IC 2017 Bright Sheng on performances of his cycle, Four Glimpses of Desire (چهار نگاه اجمالی ازهوس) (2016).
Sun, Feb 19 2017 |
Electroacoustic works Contemplating Larry by alumna composer Elainie Lillios (DMA 2000) and Regression by graduate composer Bihe Wen were two of thirteen prizewinners selected from a pool of 109 composers from 25 different countries in the Concours de Composition Acousmatique Métamorphoses 2016. The prizewinning works are included on the CD recording Métamorphoses 2016, released in February 2017.
Mon, Nov 28 2016 |
Four Glimpses of Desire (چهار نگاه اجمالی ازهوس) (2016) by alumnus composer Daniel Sabzghabaei (BM 2014) was premiered on 28 November 2016 at Romania's Festivalul Internațional Craiova Muzicală, commissioned and premiered by soprano Veronica Anușca and pianist Mihai Murariu.
Mon, Nov 21 2016 |
Guitar Construction #2: Progressive Fracture, a work by alumnus composer Dave Gedosh (DMA 2009), was selected for performance at several venues in 2016, including the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (13-19 June), the VU Symposium (Park City, UT, 5-7 July), Sound and Music Computing Conference (Hamburg, Germany, 31 August - 3 September), Electronic Music Midwest (Chicago, IL, 13-15 October), and Diffrazioni Multimedia Festival (Florence, Italy, 21-27 November).
Fri, Nov 11 2016 |
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.