ABOUT THE COMPOSER AND HER MUSIC

Dr. Andrea Clearfield is an award winning American composer. Her full time schedule of commissions includes works for orchestra, opera, chorus, chamber ensembles, dance, film and multi-media collaborations. She has been praised by the New York Times for her “graceful tracery and lively, rhythmically vital writing”, the Philadelphia Inquirer for her “virtuosity”, “compositional wizardry” and “mastery with large choral and instrumental forces”, Opera News for “vivid and galvanizing music, achieving a timeless beauty” and by the L.A. Times for her “fluid and glistening orchestration”. Her works are performed widely in the U.S. and abroad. She is a recipient of a 2016 Pew Fellowship in the Arts.

Among her 130 works are ten cantatas including one commissioned and premiered by The Philadelphia Orchestra, Kabo Omowale. Her 2012 cantata, Tse Go La (At the threshold of this life) for double chorus, chamber orchestra and electronics was co-commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club and Commonwealth Youthchoirs. The work was inspired by her fieldwork documenting Tibetan music in a restricted northern Himalayan region of Nepal. Chamber works Lung-Ta/em> and Kawa Ma Gyur, also informed by the Tibetan fieldwork were commissioned and premiered by Network for New Music. Other premieres include “and low to the lake falls home” commissioned by internationally acclaimed flutist, Carol Wincenc with New York Philharmonic principal players Cynthia Phelps and Nancy Allen. Her work Convergence was released on Bridge Records to critical acclaim (Convergences: Johannes Brahms & Andrea Clearfield) with Barbara Westphal, viola and Christian Ruvolo, piano. She is currently writing an opera on the 11th Century Tibetan yogi, Milarepa, commissioned by Gene Kaufman and Terry Eder to libretto by Jean-Claude Van Itallie and Lois Walden with developmental assistance from American Lyric Theater.

Dr. Clearfield has been awarded international fellowships at the American Academy in Rome, the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center and Civitella Ranieri in Italy, Fundaciòn Valparaiso in Spain, Moulin à Nef in France, Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland among others. Other fellowship awards include Yaddo, The MacDowell Colony, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Montalvo, Djerassi, Ragdale, Ucross, Blue Mountain Center and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She was a 2014 recipient of the Copland House Residency Award where she lived and worked in Aaron Copland’s home and was the featured composer at the 2014 Women Composers Festival of Hartford. She was recently visiting composer at Michigan State University, University of Arkansas, the College of New Jersey, University of Chicago, Hartt School of Music, College of William and Mary, University of Texas at Austin and the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. Her music is published by Boosey & Hawkes, Seeadot Publishing, Oxford University Press, Jomar Press and International Opus. Clearfield is also in demand as a curator, speaker and adjudicator for national arts foundations and performance competitions.

A native of Philadelphia, she received a D.M.A. in Composition from Temple University where she studied with Maurice Wright, was a two-time recipient of the John Heller Memorial Award for Excellence in Composition and holds the distinction of being the first composer in the history of the university to receive the prestigious university-wide Presidential Fellowship. Dr. Clearfield was honored by Temple University as a Distinguished Alumna. She received an M.M. in Piano from The University of the Arts where she studied with Susan Starr and served from 1986-2011 on the composition faculty and also taught interdisciplinary arts. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors from Muhlenberg College where she was a recipient of the Alumni Achievement in the Arts Award. Active as a pianist, she has performed with numerous groups including the Court of the Dalai Lama and has been the pianist in the contemporary music ensemble Relâche since 1990. Now celebrating its 30th year, Clearfield is also the founder and host of the renowned Philadelphia Salon, featuring contemporary, classical, jazz, electronic, multimedia and world music and winner of Philadelphia Magazine’s 2008 “Best of Philadelphia” award. She is also curating and hosting Salon concerts around the country. More at www.andreaclearfield.com.

SAMPLE COMPOSITIONS

ABOUT THE CONSORTIUM LEADER

Dr. Lee Hinkle is a percussionist and classically trained baritone vocalist whose percussion playing has been called “rock-steady” by the Washington Post and having “a notable sense of flare [sic]” by Potomac Stages.  He is currently serving as the principal percussionist for the 21st Century Consort: the resident new music ensemble at the Smithsonian American Art Gallery, a position he has held since 2012. He made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2014 with the world premiere performance of Baljinder Sekhon’s Double Percussion Concerto for two percussion soloists and wind ensemble. He holds masters and D.M.A. degrees from the University of Maryland and a B.M. degree from the University of South Florida, summa cum laude.

An active performer, Dr. Hinkle’s performance highlights have included performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, Washington Master Chorale, and the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.  He has toured with several performers and groups, including Bebe Neuwirth, Bernadette Peters, and the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. An active theater musician, he has played many of the major Broadway productions at the Tony Award Winning Signature Theatre in Shirlington, VA since 2008.

As a recording studio musician and commissioner of contemporary chamber and solo music, Dr. Hinkle has over a dozen CDs to his credit and his recordings can be heard on eight different record labels including Capstone Records, New World Records, Albany Records, and the C.F. Peter’s Corporation. On Marimba Concerti with Percussion Orchestra, published by Capstone Records, he is a featured marimba soloist with the McCormick Percussion Group. In 2015, Dr. Hinkle released his first solo percussion CD entitled “Theatrical Music for Solo Percussion” on Albany Records to critical acclaim.

An active percussion recitalist, soloist, and clinician; Dr. Hinkle has presented solo recitals and master classes at universities, conservatories, and festivals both nationally and internationally including the Boston Conservatory, U.S.A.; Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, Lyon, France; and Konservatorium Wien, Privatuniversität, Vienna, Austria. Dr. Hinkle has presented at several state-level Percussive Arts Society “Days of Percussion” in Maryland and Florida.  He has performed at two Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. In February 2016, he will present a clinic at the Maryland Music Educators Association convention in Baltimore, MD.

Dr. Hinkle serves on the faculty at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, where he has been studio teaching, presenting master classes, administrating the percussion studio, and directing the percussion ensemble since 2009. His activities at UMD have included leading the UMD Percussion Ensemble to feature performances at several state level Percussive Arts Society “Days of Percussion” and two performances at the McCormick Marimba Festival in Tampa, FL. The UMD Percussion Ensemble was selected by audition to perform at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in November 2016. Additional contributions at UMD include presenting faculty recitals, concerto performances, making recordings, and hosting guest artists. He has worked on several collaborations with the music composition and dance departments and has made contributions in the area of entrepreneurship for musicians.

In the area of service, Dr. Hinkle serves on the Percussive Arts Society Percussion Ensemble Committee and is the President of the MD / DE Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society.

Dr. Hinkle is a proud to be a Yamaha Performing Artist. Additionally, he endorses REMO drum heads and percussion, Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, and Grover Pro Percussion.

CONSORTIUM DETAILS

DURATION:
10-12 minutes

INSTRUMENTATION:
String Quartet + Solo Marimba

DIFFICULTY:
The piece will be written with professional performers in mind.

COMPOSITION DEADLINE:
December 15th, 2017

MEMBER EXCLUSIVITY DEADLINE:
June 1st, 2019

HOW TO GET YOUR NAME ON THE MAP

While participation in Global Premiere is currently by invitation, we encourage those who have not received an invitation but are interested in being involved to apply using the contact form. This includes composers, performers of all instruments, and sponsors. Invitation emails include a PayPal link to secure a première.