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The New York Viola Society Presents
a Grand Finale Collegial Concert

May 3, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

Church of Christ and St. Stephen's
(West 69th Street between Columbus and Broadway)

Admission: New York Viola Society members: free.
General Admission:$15. Seniors: $10. Students: $5.

Program

I.

Rapsodie from Suite Hebraique
Ernest Bloch (arr. Adam Crane)

Ann Roggen, Solo Viola
Dennis Malloy, Christopher B. McClain, Matthew Darsey and Sheila Browne, Violas

Suite in G minor for solo viola
Max Reger

Drew Vella, Viola

"Conversation" (World Premiere)
"The Sky Opens"
"The Beautiful Time"
George Quincy

Mary Barto, Flute
Joel Rudin, Viola
George Quincy, Piano

Deixo/Sonata (World Premiere)
Douglas Boyce

Jessica Meyer, Viola
Steven Beck, Piano

II.

A Viola Quartet
Michael White

Sheila Browne, Matthew Darsey, Christopher B. McClain and Dennis Malloy, Violas

Chaconne for Solo Viola (U.S. Premiere)
Tõnu Kõrvits

Rebecca Osborn, Viola

And Then I Knew 'Twas Wind
Toru Takemitsu

The Janus Trio:
Amanda Baker, Flute
Beth Meyers, Viola
Nuiko Wadden, Harp

Viola Variations
Charles Wuorinen

Lois Martin, Viola

III.

Bartosky Concerto
Julien Heichelbech

Eric Lemmon, Jooyong Lee, Seongeun Kim and Kip Riecken, Violas

Stamitz Circus
Julien Heichelbech

Jooyong Lee, Eric Lemmon, Brittany Lynn Osman and Iymaani Abdul-Hamid, Violas

Deux Rhapsodies for Oboe, Viola and Piano
Charles Martin Loeffler

I. L'Etang
II. La Cornemuse

Megan Marolf, Oboe
Charles Dalton, Viola
Evelyn Golz, Piano

Chaconne from Partita No.2 BWV 1004-Transformation I for Four Violas
J.S. Bach (arr. Ichiro Nodaira)

Ann Roggen, Christopher B. McClain, Matthew Darsey and Dennis Malloy, Violas

Piano Courtesy of Yamaha Inc.

About the Performers and the Music

Iymaani Abdul-Hamid from Bronx New York is a freshman at NYU. She plans to minor in engineering.

A former member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Mary Barto has performed in New York with the New York Philharmonic, New York City Opera, New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. Her major teachers include Julius Baker, John C. Krell and Herbert Levy. She has toured Western Europe with harpsichordist Eve Kugler and across the United States as soloist for the legendary Skitch Henderson, founder of the New York Pops. She is a member of the New York Five, exclusively performing music composed by their pianist, George Quincy and recorded on Albany Records.
Mary Barto is also Adjunct Professor/Instructor of Flute at Columbia University-Teachers College, Mannes College - the New School for Music - Extension and Preparatory Divisions, Fordham University and Hunter College. She is the Director of the Mannes College Extension Division Flute Ensemble and is the Coordinator of the Adult Chamber Music program at the Lucy Moses School-Kaufman Center. She has given many solo concerts and Master Classes as well as performed on WQXR's "Artists in Concert". Her Broadway credits include "Man of La Mancha", "Annie", "The King and I" and "Les Miserables". She has recorded many film scores, including numerous works by Academy Award winning composer, John Barry. Her work for the Federal Music Society was performed on period instruments and recorded by New World Records.

"...one of the city's most admired young pianists...", pianist Steven Beck is a graduate of the Juilliard School, and has performed as soloist and chamber musician at the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Miller Theater, Steinway Hall, Tonic, and Barbes, as well as on the New York Philharmonic Ensembles Series and WNYC. He is an Artist Presenter and regular performer at Bargemusic (where he recently performed all of the Beethoven piano sonatas), performs frequently as a musician with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and has performed with the New York City Ballet. Mr. Beck is a member of the Knights, Pleasure is the Law, and the new music ensemble Future In Reverse (FIRE), and his recordings are on the Albany, Bridge, Boston Records, Monument, Mulatta, and Annemarie Classics labels.

Violist Sheila Browne has performed in many of the world's major halls as soloist, chamber musician, and as an orchestral principal. She has recorded concerto and chamber works for the Nonesuch, Sony, Albany, Centaur and ERM labels, and will be premiering a concerto written for her at the International Viola Congress in 2009 in South Africa. A graduate of the Juilliard School, MusikHochschule Freiburg and Rice University, she has performed/taught in many festivals including Banff, Donaueschingen, Evian, Great Lakes, Green Mountain, California Summer Music, Jeunesses Musicales, Kneisel Hall, Music Academy of the West, and Tanglewood. She was appointed to the UNCSA faculty in 2006 and is on the Executive Board of the American Viola Society. Ms Browne will join the faculty of New York University in the fall of 2009.

Charles Dalton "Mr. Dalton makes rich sounds on his melodious instrument" (The New Yorker), lovely and breathtaking, (New York Amsterdam News) and "a remedy long overdue, musical ensemble brought about by his performance" (Montreal Gazette) are just a couple raves associated with Charles Dalton's viola playing and musicianship. Charles Dalton's musical development was nurtured at such noted institutions as the Combs College of Music, the Curtis Institute, New York University and the Julliard School of Music. His teachers include Walter Trampler, Paul Doktor, Bruno Giurana, Joseph Primavera and Joseph de Pasquale.
A twenty year resident of Caracas, Venezuela, Mr. Dalton was former principal violist of Sinfonica Municipal de Caracas, where its twelve violist were his former students, and has performed as soloist with that orchestra. For the past five years has appeared in Chamber Music Recitals at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
As soloist he was invited by Amnesty International to be the viola soloist in a performance of Richard Strauss' Don Quixote. Has been a guest soloist on several recitals with principal clarinetist Luis Garces of the Royal Madrid Philharmonic, with mezzo-soprano Florence Quivar of the Metropolitan Opera and the late celebrated Metropolitan Opera soprano Licia Albenese.
As an active chamber music player he has performed in the festivals of Warsovia, Poland, Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds (Italy), Quebec-Province, Temple University, Latin-American Caribbean Music festival, Exxon, as well as for OEA. He has played with members of the Lyon Opera of France, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet Orchestra, Real Madrid Filarmonica, New Jersey Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Sinfonica de Bogata, Baltimore Symphony as well as many free-lance ensembles her in New York. Mr. Dalton along with Ms. Liz Player, Executive Director, Co-founder, is the Artistic Director, Co-founder of the St. Mary's Chamber Players.

Violist Matthew Darsey is currently a student at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he studies with Sheila Browne, where he has also studied with Ulrich Eichenauer. He has played in master classes for Ara Gregorian, Tim Fain, John Largess, Don McInnes, Carol Rodland, and Karen Ritscher. He has attended California Summer Music, Eastern Music Festival, and the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Darsey has been awarded a full scholarship to pursue a masters degree at Louisiana State University to study with Matthew Daline.

Pianist Evelyn Golz is an active chamber musician, having performed with such ensembles as the Orchestra of St. Lukes, the San Gabriel Symphony, the Redlands Symphony, the Muhlfeld Trio, The Downtown Chamber and Opera Players and the Women of West Harlem Winds. She is currently the pianist in the St. Mary's Chamber Players, which has a regular concert series in West Harlem and recently appeared at Carnegie's Weill Hall. She was involved in the production of "Nixon in China" at BAM, productions of the Children's Free Opera, and performances of Stravinsky's "Les Noces" with the Canadian Ballet, also at BAM. As a member of the "Golz Duo", with 'cellist sister Madeleine, she has appeared frequently in concerts both in this area and on the West Coast.
Evelyn Golz is an active member of St. Mary's Chamber Players, as well as a member of the Board of Directors.

Brooklyn based janus (Amanda Baker, flutes; Beth Meyers, viola; Nuiko Wadden, harp) was formed in 2002 with the goal of presenting and creating new repertoire for the trio. Named after Janus, the Roman god whose double-faced image peers into the past and future, the trio maintains the established tradition for the instrumentation while breaking new ground into unexplored sonic frontiers. Beginning with Debussy and including Toru Takemitsu, Harald Genzmer, Andrè Jolivet, Sophia Gubaidulina and Kaija Saariaho, composers have been allured by this intriguing combination of something bowed, something blown and something plucked.
To date, janus has added over twenty new pieces to the trio library through individual submissions and collaborative projects with universities. Among the composers who have written for janus are Caleb Burhans, Anna Clyne, Andrew McKenna-Lee, Jason Treuting, Dan Trueman, Dmitri Tymoczko and Barbara White. From its inception to the present, janus has collaborated with the composition departments at Princeton, Colgate, New York and Cornell universities. janus also has an ongoing relationship with the Aspen Music Festival and School annually presenting a week of activities for children throughout the Roaring Fork Valley.
Within New York City, janus has been featured at Symphony Space, the Tank, Roulette, BAM Cafè, The Stone, Weill Recital Hall, Joe's Pub, the Look & Listen Festival, Trinity Church and Advent Lutheran Church (Music Mondays). Other performances include the Cleveland Museum of Art, the National Flute Association Convention (Kansas City), Rocky River Chamber Music Series (OH), the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts (CO) and the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series (Chicago).

Seoungeun Kim holds a Bachelors of Music degree from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea, and a Master’s degree from Yale University. She is pursuing for an Advanced Certificate at New York University.

Originally from Korea, Jooyong Lee holds a Bachelors of Music degree from Mannes and an Artist's Diploma from SUNY/Purchase. She is completing her Masters Degree at NYU.

Eric Lemmon (B.M.) is a recent graduate of New York University¹s Music and Performing Arts Program. As a founding member of the Tecchler Quartet, Eric has performed extensively throughout the New York City metropolitan area. He has also performed in operas, musicals, such as recorded music and symphonies. He is a regular member of Brooklyn's One World Symphony, where he has played as principal.

Dennis J. Malloy, violist, is currently a graduate student at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he is studying with Sheila Browne. He's an active chamber and orchestral musician, playing in various large ensembles, such as the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra, where he has sat principal under the direction of Chancellor Mauceri and Ransom Wilson, as well as Jamie Allbritten for the UNCSA Opera Orchestra. Mr. Malloy is currently principal violist with The Little Symphony of Forsyth County and has substituted with the Salem Community Orchestra, as well as participating in various collaborative concerts, on and off the UNCSA campus.
Mr. Malloy received his Bachelor's degree from UNCSA, after switching from violin to viola his sophomore year. Since switching to viola, he has performed in masterclasses for artist such as Carol Rodland, Don McInnes, Ann Roggen, Matthew Daline, Nokuthula Nygwenhama, and the Emerson String Quartet and for Cho-Liang Lin of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His former teachers include Ulrich Eichenhauer and Sally Peck.
Upon receipt of his Master of Music degree, Mr. Malloy plans to audition for symphony orchestras, while touring the surrounding area introducing classical/art music to minority and underprivileged students, through their local music programs.

Oboist Megan Marolf is an active orchestral, chamber, and solo musician throughout the New York City area and beyond. She has toured throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia with the Philip Glass Ensemble, performing "Book of Longing," an evening-length piece based on the poetry of Leonard Cohen. Megan has also performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Alarm Will Sound, DiCapo Opera Theater, Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, Chelsea Opera, Westchester Chamber Orchestra, and Garden State Philharmonic, among numerous other ensembles; and at such events as the Tribeca Film Festival and Bang on a Can Marathon. A lover of chamber music, she performs with the Women of West Harlem Winds and the woodwind quartet TetraWind. Megan is a recent graduate of the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Stephen Taylor. Megan Marolf is Oboist of St. Mary's Chamber Players.

Lois Martin is a founding member of the Atlantic String Quartet, which is dedicated to the performance of newly written compositions. This season they released Elenor Cory's Second String Quartet. Her continuing commitment to contemporary music includes performances with the Group for Contemporary Music, the ISCM Chamber Players, the Ensemble Sospeso, Ensemble 21, the New York New Music Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, the Composers' Guild, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Composers Forum and Steve Reich and Musicians.
Currently, Ms. Martin is Principal Violist for the Stamford Symphony, OK Mozart Festival and The Little Orchestra Society. She is a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the American Chamber Ensemble, and frequently plays with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the New York City Ballet Orchestra and the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra. Ms. Martin is also on the faculty of the Composers Conference at Wellesley College and has taught at Princeton University.
This past season included the world premiere of "Viola Variations", a piece for solo viola, written by Charles Wuorinen and dedicated to Ms. Martin. In addition to the New York premiere, she performed the piece at the Library of Congress for a concert celebrating Wourinen's 70th birthday.
She also had the privilege of recording Donald Martino's 5th String Quartet as well as Charles Wuorinen's 1st String Quartet.

Violist Christopher McClain is a vibrant and passionate musician who has concertized in venues across the east coast from Carnegie Hall to Disney World. Prior to attending the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts, Mr. McClain served three consecutive seasons as principal violist of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra. While at UNCSA Mr. McClain has served many seasons as the principal violist of both the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra and the Opera Orchestra.
Most recently, Mr. McClain premiered music by a UNCSA student composer during UNCSA's Winter Dance concert for Alonso King's Lines Ballet and he performed Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.6 as a guest soloist with his current teacher, UNCSA and New York University faculty member Sheila Browne, at the 2008 Musica Viva! festival in Blacksburg, VA.
Mr. McClain has also maintained a life-long love affair with the art of dance which culminated in a 2008 collaboration with dancer/choreographer Blake Roeder in the creation and performance of an original composition to a full house at UNCSA for a solid week.
In the fall Mr. McClain will attend Boston University as a scholarship graduate student studying with Michelle LaCourse.

With her "focused, beautifully centered" playing (Allan Kozinn, The New York Times), violist Jessica Meyer is a versatile performer who has been featured as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player throughout the world. As an advocate of new music, she is the principal violist of the Mimesis Ensemble and is the co-founder of the critically-acclaimed contemporary music collective counter)induction. She has premiered pieces for solo viola at Merkin Concert Hall and the MATA Festival, and has performed with Continuum and the Argento Chamber Ensemble. Jessica is the founder of Piaclava - a touring clarinet, viola, and piano trio that is often called upon for Educational Outreach concerts. Passionate about education, Jessica also conducts many workshops for hundreds of public school students and adults throughout the area for the Lincoln Center Institute, the Little Orchestra Society, and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Ms. Meyer earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School.

Rebecca Osborn is a graduate of the University of Colorado with degrees in Piano Pedagogy and Viola Performance and The Juilliard School with a Master's Degree in Viola. After graduation, she lived and performed in Switzerland and Venezuela with side trips to England, Germany, France and Austria for quartet performances and chamber orchestra concerts. Moving back to New York City, she is a freelance musician performing with many groups over the years in all the main venues of the city. In 1993, Rebecca became a part-time resident of Sitka, Alaska and has played in orchestras, chamber groups and solo recitals for concerts in Anchorage, Homer and Sitka. Her new project is playing music for solo viola composed in countries north of 57 degrees North Latitude - Sitka's latitude - for people who have little acquaintance with "classical" string playing.

Brittany Lynn Osman (B.M.) hails from East Setauket, New York. In addition to the viola, Brittany is a versatile vocalist and has also been playing jazz and classical saxophone since she was 10 years old, and enjoys bringing her jazz experience to her work as a violist.

George Quincy was born and raised in McAlester, Oklahoma and is of Choctaw heritage. He has two degrees from The Juilliard school and later taught there, became Musical Advisor to Martha Graham and went on to compose, orchestrate and conduct music for Theater, Dance, Film, Opera, Television and Concert. His music has been performed in Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall and many theaters in New York City.
Throughout his childhood, his Juilliard years and later, he believed that his lyrical gift in musical composition was rooted in his Choctaw blood and his analytical talent in his white western education.
He develops the emotional and cultural fusion of classical music and Choctaw sounds in his personal artistic journey.
His album, CHRISTMAS, has been re-released and can be found on AMAZON.COM. THE NEW YORK 5, a chamber music group specializing in Mr. Quincy's music, played two concerts at the American Indian Wing of the Smithsonian in Washington DC in October of 2006. Albany Records has released a CD called CHOCTAW NIGHTS, based on Quincy's Choctaw background and the moons of Jupiter. POCAHONTAS AT THE COURT OF JAMES I, part 2 was presented by the Queen's Chamber Band at Merkin Hall on May 9. Both parts of Pocahontas was presented at the American Indian Wing of the Smithsonian last November. He has received awards from ASCAP in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 2007 and 2008 (twelve in a row) and many from Meet the Composer. He was featured in the Juilliard Journal in February. He has completed a recording for Native Flute and orchestra entitled CHOCTAW DIARIES which is paired with Pocahontas in a new CD. His new piano piece, The Release of the Choctaw Fire Bird had its world premier in Washington D.C. played by Emanuele Arciuli at the Indian Wing of the Smithsonian.

Kip Riecken from Orlando, Florida is completing his freshman year at NYU. In his free time, when not playing the viola, he enjoys fishing and following sports or speaking German, his minor at NYU.

Violist Ann Roggen has been awarded grants from Chamber Music America and the National Endowment for the Arts, and is a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, with whom she has performed and recorded extensively for labels such as Sony, Telarc and Deutsche Gramaphon, including many “Live from Lincoln Center” broadcasts.
In recent seasons, Ms. Roggen has also performed with the American Ballet Theater, Cirque de Soleil, the New Jersey Symphony, and is a member of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony.
She maintains an active and vital studio in New York City where she teaches viola and coaches chamber music. As a member of the Bennington College faculty, she has had great success in developing interdisciplinary cultural events designed to combine music with literature, history, dance and language in performance. Ann was recently elected to the national Board of the American Viola Society, and she serves as Vice President of the New York Viola Society. She has been successful in creating imaginative performance opportunities in New York City for dedicated violists to explore repertoire both old and new. Highlights of recent seasons include an evening of multiple viola repertoire with members of the London Symphony Orchestra, solo performances with the Zagreb Chamber Orchestra (Croatia), as well as recitals and master classes under the auspices of the American Cultural Centres in Zagreb and Vilnius, Lithuania. Ms. Roggen received her musical training at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and the Juilliard School. Her principal teachers and mentors have included Karen Tuttle, Lillian Fuchs, Joseph Fuchs and the Juilliard String Quartet.

Joel Rudin, a former member of the Laurentian String Quartet, has toured the United States, Canada, Asia and Algeria, and can be heard on recordings for the Musical Heritage Society, Soundspells Productions, Newport Classics, and Pierian Records as well as on the George Quincy CD's Choctaw Nights and Pocahontas. Mr. Rudin has played with the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, and American Symphony. He is principal viola of the Delaware Valley Philharmonic and has performed as principal viola with numerous orchestras including the Long Island Philharmonic, Westfield Symphony, Colonial Symphony, St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra and The New York Grand Opera. He is a frequent guest artist with the Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre.

A special thanks to Joo Hyun Song, who rehearsed the music for this evening's program. Ms. Song is a graduate of the Seoul National University, received her Master's Degree from the Juilliard and is completing her Advanced Certificate at NYU.

Drew Vella is a freshman and an instrumental performance major at Long Island University's C.W. Post campus. He has had ten years of study with teachers such as Michael Vannoni, Heather Weeks, Dale Stuckenbruck, and Veronica Salas. At Post, Drew is principal violist of the String Ensemble and the Orchestra, as well as an active chamber musician. He also plays in community orchestras such as North Shore Symphony Orchestra and Sound Symphony. Previously, Drew has attended the Summer Viola Institute at the Eastman School of Music and NYSSSA's School of Orchestral Studies in Saratoga Springs, NY. He also performed on a concert tour that travelled to France, Monaco, Italy, and Austria.

About the Composers and the Music

Douglas Boyce holds a BA degree in Physics and Music from Williams College, an MM from the University of Oregon and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. His musical works have been performed in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Paris, Prague, and Beijing, and have been published by the Society of Composers, Inc. Journal of Music Scores and by Capstone Records. He as won the League of Composers/ISCM Composers Competition and the Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award. He is Associate Professor of Music at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, and is a founding member of the New York new music collective counter)induction. Current projects include a new work for the SUNY Stony Brook Contemporary Players, The Instances, a work for guitar and string quartet commissioned by Marco Cappelli, a new work for Ensemble p and The Girl who Watered the Basil, a pocket-opera based on the eponymous play by Federico Garcia Lorca.

Deixo | Sonata
'Deixo' is is verb used in classical Greek to connote both a logical proof and a stylish display of oratory in the presentation of that proof. In our years of working together, Jessica has often requested for a viola sonata, and as I settled down to work on the piece, it struck me that the request is for performance from me as well an opportunity for performance for herself, to compose a piece as squarely in the tradition of sonatas for soloist and piano is to strike a balance between expectation and opportunity, between that which is constitutive and essential and that which is potential and (perhaps) unexpected.
The harmonic and thematic material for the work is derived initially from a transliteration of the letters of Jessica's name into pitches, and as such the work is both a continuation of the suggetto cavato tradition stretching back to the Renaissance, and of the a series of half a dozen such 'isentropic semaphores' that I have written for and of performers and friends. These transliterations are not the focus of the work, which is generally concerned with the rhetoric and forms of the sonata traditions, and the personal of 'soloist' so often operative in those works. The work is less of portrait of Jessica and her name than a portrait of the roles and stances she has adopted over the years of our working together, a summa of those modalities in which I love to hear Jessica playing, and which I hope brings her a similar joy. It has been an honor and a privilege.

Music of Tõnu Kõrvits is filled with highly poetical imagery. It varies from gentle and fragile sound paintings to dramatic orchestral textures, full of vivacity and passion. Composer's heedful treatment of melodic lines is combined with well-considered timbre choice. Last years Oriental melodic styles and Estonian folk song are reflected in his work.
After completing his studies at the Estonian Academy of Music with Raimo Kangro in 1994, Tõnu Kõrvits was engaged in postgraduate studies with Prof. Jaan Rääts 1994–1998. He has participated in master courses for young arrangers (e.g. with the Metropole Orchestra and conductor Vince Mendoza in Hilversum, Holland, in 1997) and in the master class of composer Stephen Montague in Gdansk, Poland, in 1998.
Since 2001, Tõnu Kõrvits is a lecturer of composition and instrumentation at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He also was the Composer-in-Residence with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra for the 2003/2004 concert season.
Music of Tõnu Kõrvits has been performed at several festivals, including ArtGenda (Copenhagen, 1996, Rainbird`s Home), Silesian Days of Contemporary Music (Katowice, 1998, Dome Music), Usedomer Musikfestival (1999), Lockenhaus (1999, For You, the Messenger of Night commissioned by Festival Committee), World Saxophone Congress (Montreal, 2000, Assignation), Music of Friends (Moscow, 2002), Europamusicale (Germany, 2004, Afterglow), Musica nos unit (Gdansk, 2004, Wildflower; premiere of Wild Birds).
In 1994, Tõnu Kõrvits’ Concerto Semplice for guitar and chamber orchestra was chosen to represent Estonia at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris, The Sign Of Love for symphony orchestra participated at Rostrum in Vienna, 2003. The Days of Glory represented Estonia in the Millennium Project of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). In addition to writing contemporary compositions in the classical idiom, Tõnu Kõrvits is known as an accomplished arranger and orchestrator of popular music, he was a nominee for the Estonian Music Award ‘98 in the Best Arranger category. He has composed soundtracks for several animation films.
His music has been played by Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Macao Symphony Orchestra, Nordic Symphony Orchestra, Krasnoyarsk Symphony Orchestra, Ohio Northern University (ONU) Symphony Orchestra, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra, St. Michel Strings, Amstel Saxophone Quartet, Firebird Ensemble, guitarists Reinbert Evers and Klaus Jäckle etc. and as well as Estonian orchestras and interpreters Estonian State Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Nyyd Ensemble, conductors Olari Elts, Anu Tali, Tõnu Kaljuste, Risto Joost, Paul Mägi, saxophonist Virgo Veldi, bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann, flutist Monika Mattiesen etc.
Tõnu Kõrvits was awarded The Heino Eller Music Prize in 2001, the Young Artist Prize by the Board of the President’s Cultural Foundation in 2002 and the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia in 2004. Kõrvits’ symphonic work Eldorado won the Third Prize at the International Lepo Sumera Composition Contest for Young Composers in Tallinn in 2003. In 2006 he received Cultural Endowment’s Live and Shine grant and in 2007 was awarded the Annual Music Prize of the Estonian Music Council for his contribution to Estonian orchestral music.

Charles Wuorinen (b. 1938, New York) is one of the world's leading composers. His many honors include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the Pulitzer Prize (the youngest composer to receive the award). His compositions encompass every form and medium, including works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, soloists, ballet, and stage. Wuorinen has written more than 250 compositions to date. His newest works include Time Regained, a fantasy for piano and orchestra for Peter Serkin, James Levine and the MET Opera Orchestra, Second Piano Quintet for Peter Serkin and the Brentano Quartet, Eighth Symphony for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Fourth Piano Sonata for Anne-Marie McDermott and Synaxis for four soloists, strings and timpani. Upcoming projects include an opera on Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain. (Wuorinen's Haroun and the Sea of Stories based on the novel of Salman Rushdie was premiered by the New York City Opera in Fall 2004.)
Wuorinen has been described as a "maximalist," writing music luxuriant with events, lyrical and expressive, strikingly dramatic. His works are characterized by powerful harmonies and elegant craftsmanship, offering at once a link to the music of the past and a vision of a rich musical future.
Both as composer and performer (conductor and pianist) Wuorinen has worked with some of the finest performers of the current time and his works reflect the great virtuosity of his collaborators.
His works have been recorded on nearly a dozen labels including several releases on Naxos, Albany Records (Charles Wuorinen Series), John Zorn's Tzadik label, and a CD of piano works performed by Alan Feinberg on the German label Col Legno.
Wuorinen is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.