The University of Florida (UF) School of Music and the Florida Contemporary Music Festival presents the Society of Composers, Inc. (SCI) 50th Anniversary National Conference at the UF School of Music in Gainesville, Florida, Nov. 12-14, 2015. The conference will include 12 concerts, panel discussions, keynote addresses and several receptions taking place in the Music Building, University Auditorium and the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Guest artists and UF’s own music students will perform more than 100 new pieces dating back no later than the start of the 21st century. The music will encompass all genres presented through an assortment of mediums and styles, ranging from traditional to experimental. All events are free and open to the public.
There will be 12 concerts over the course of the three-day festival. The closing concert entitled Music of Our Time will take place Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. at the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Gainesville, Florida. Professor Will Kesling will conduct the UF Concert Choir, while Matthew Wardell, music director and conductor of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the UF Symphony Orchestra. Audience members can expect new works that are funny, audience-friendly and performed in five different languages.
A call for works was announced in the spring of 2015, resulting in 641 submissions. Ninety-one were selected for presentation during the conference. Participants will include 90 composers, guest performing ensembles and UF student and faculty performers. The works of three winners of the SCI and American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Student Commission Competition will also be presented. The composer-in-residence for the festival will be the internationally acclaimed composer, educator and pianist Don Freund. This year’s guest performers will include North Carolina-based The Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, musicians from soundSCAPE, a new music festival in Italy, and esteemed pianists Mary Hellman and Dan Koppelman.
“One thing that distinguishes the UF School of Music from most programs around the country is the heavy emphasis placed on the composition and performance of music of our own time,” said event co-coordinator and UF Professor of Composition Paul Richards. “Part of the mission of a music school within a research university is to embrace and encourage new ways of creating and performing music, and this conference serves as a focal point for these activities.”
For the full schedule of events and to learn more about the SCI National Conference, please visit arts.ufl.edu/sci2015. For information about the Music of Our Time closing concert, visit performingarts.ufl.edu.
About the School of Music
The School of Music is one of the University of Florida College of the Arts’ three institutionally-accredited schools. The School of Music plays an important role in the academic life of the University and the community. The school’s programs provide broad-based instruction in performance, composition, history and literature and music disciplines, through a strong curriculum as well as through professional experiences such as ensembles and internships. UF students also have the opportunity to join more than a dozen music ensembles, including jazz bands, the University Choir, the University Symphony Orchestra and the “Pride of the Sunshine” Fightin’ Gator Marching Band. To learn more, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/music.
About the College of the Arts
The College of the Arts is one of the 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The College of the Arts offers baccalaureate, master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in its three institutionally-accredited schools — the School of Art + Art History, School of Music and School of Theatre + Dance. The college is home to the Center for Arts in Medicine, Center for Arts and Public Policy, Center for World Arts, Digital Worlds Institute, University Galleries and the New World School of the Arts in Miami. More than 100 faculty members and approximately than 1,200 students work together daily to engage, inspire and create. The college hosts more than 300 performances, exhibitions and events each year. Faculty and students also exhibit and perform at other local, national and international venues. To learn more, visit www.arts.ufl.edu.
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Media Contact
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University of Florida College of the Arts
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