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Composer of the Month December 2017 Derek David Bourgeois IN MEMORIAM Derek David Bourgeois (16 October 1941 – 6 September 2017) Derek Bourgeois was born in Kingston upon Thames in 1941. After receiving his university education at Magdalene College, Cambridge (honours degree and doctorate), Bourgeois spent two years at the Royal College of Music, studying composition with Herbert Howells and conducting with Sir Adrian Boult. From 1971 to 1984, Bourgeois was a lecturer in music at Bristol University, and director of the National Youth Orchestra from 1984 to 1993. In 1980, he began conducting the Sun [...]

Composer of the Month November 2017 Yasuhide Ito Yasuhide Ito (b. 7 December 1960, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese composer. Ito completed graduate work at Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music in 1986 where he studied composition with Professor Teruyuki Noda. Ito won 3rd prize in the 51st Music Competition of Japan with a work for orchestra, and in 1986, he won the 1st prize of the competition for the Composition for Saxophone. As a pianist, Ito won 1st prize in the 5th Music Competition of Shizuoka in 1980. Ito is a member [...]

Composer of the Month October 2017 James Syler JAMES SYLER (b.1961) was born in Hyde Park, NY and raised in New York and Florida. He received a B.M. degree from Northern Illinois University in 1983 and in a M.M. degree from the University of Miami in 1988. In 1991 he continued his studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He has studied privately with composers Alfred Reed, Karl Korte and Pulitzer prizewinner Michael Colgrass. Equally at ease with modern and traditional techniques, his compositions have been noted for their lyricism and drama. His compositional interests move [...]

Composer of the Month September 2017 David Maslanka August 30, 1943 - August 6, 2017 IN MEMORIAM David Maslanka By Gary Green David Maslanka died during the night of August 6th, 2017 at home. He had been diagnosed with a severe form of colon cancer in June. His wife, Alison, died on July 3rd of this year. He declined rapidly following her passing. He is survived by his children, Stephen, Matthew, and Kathryn.The loss of David Maslanka is especially difficult.He was a loving husband and father and always kept his family closest to his heart.For many, [...]

Composer of the Month August 2017 Steven Bryant Steven Bryant’s music is chiseled in its structure and intent, fusing lyricism, dissonance, silence, technology, and humor into lean, skillfully-crafted works that enthrall listeners and performers alike. His seminal work Ecstatic Waters, for wind ensemble and electronics, has become one of the most performed works of its kind in the world, receiving over 250 performances in its first five seasons. Recently, the orchestral version was premiered by the Minnesota Orchestra to unanimous, rapturous acclaim. The son of a professional trumpeter and music educator, he strongly values music education, [...]

Composer of the Month July 2017 Johan de Meij Dutch composer and conductor Johan de Meij (Voorburg, 1953) received his musical training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, where he studied trombone and conducting. His award-winning oeuvre of original compositions, symphonic transcriptions and film score arrangements have garnered him international acclaim and have become permanent fixtures in the repertoire of renowned ensembles throughout the world. His Symphony No. 1 The Lord of the Rings was awarded the prestigious Sudler Composition Prize and has been recorded by myriad ensembles including The London Symphony Orchestra, [...]

Composer of the Month June 2017 Eduard de Boer Eduard de Boer (b. 1957) is a Dutch composer, music educator, conductor and pianist. He is also known as his pseudonym: Alexander Comitas . Eduard de Boer was born in 1957. He studied piano with Thom Bollen, and composition with Hans Kox at the Utrecht Conservatory in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He then studied orchestral conducting with Anton Kersjes at the Maastricht Conservatory in Maastricht, The Netherlands. From 1981 to 1990, he worked as a free-lance pianist for the orchestras and choir of the Dutch radio. After that, [...]

Composer of the Month May 2017 Aldo Rafael Forte Aldo Rafael Forte is an internationally renowned composer with many published and recorded original compositions to his credit. His works have been performed by some of the best ensembles in the world. Born in Havana, Cuba on June 4, 1953 he came to the U.S. at the age of nine and is a U.S. citizen. His paternal grandmother was a piano teacher. Forte was introduced to music by his father, a professor of mathematics and amateur classical guitarist and guitar maker. Forte credits the encouragement of both [...]

Composer of the Month April 2017 Rolf Rudin Rolf Rudin (born 1961) studied music in Frankfurt and Würzburg, Germany. After graduating in composition (1991) and conducting (1992), he lectured in music theory at his Alma Mater in Frankfurt from 1993 to 2001. Since then, he has been living as a freelance composer near Frankfurt, and is self-publishing his own works. Besides other scholarships, he received a fellowship for a six-month stay at the “Cité Internationale des Arts” in Paris and a German Cultural Award for outstanding cultural and artistic performance. As a composer, he writes for [...]

Composer of the Month March 2017 Yo Goto Yo Goto (b. 1958) is recognized as one of the leading composers and educators in the field of wind and percussion music in the United States and Japan. He is currently the executive director of the Japan Academic Society of Wind Music and a member of the committee of the Japan Band Clinic. Goto received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Yamagata University, Japan, and studied composition with Shin-ichiro Ikebe at the Tokyo College of Music, completing a Performance Diploma Course. As active composer, arranger, and clinician, [...]