Fri 8.5 Pulse

MARGARET BROUWER (b. 1940)

Composer Margaret Brouwer’s music has earned singular praise for its lyricism, musical imagery, and emotional power. Her Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, commissioned by the Dallas Symphony, was premiered by them with Ellen Rose, solo violist in January 2010.  The same year she received a Meet The Composer Commissioning/USA award to compose Path at Sunrise, Masses of Flowers which was premiered by the Cleveland Women’s Symphony in April 2010. Reviewing the concert in clevelandclassical.com, Mike Telin said, "The title describes exactly what one sees when listening to this stunning piece. The colors that Ms. Brouwer draws from the orchestra throughout this gorgeous six-minute work made this listener wish it had lasted six minutes longer." Premieres in 2009 included Brouwer’s Rhapsody for Orchestra commissioned and premiered by the Detroit Symphony, Leonard Slatkin, conducting, and BREAKDOWN, a collaborative work by Brouwer and video/sound artist Kasumi, commissioned and premiered by the American Composers Orchestra, George Manahan conducting, at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. Ms. Brouwer received an Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and letters in 2006, was named a Guggenheim Fellow for 2004, and was awarded an Ohio Council for the Arts Individual Fellowship for 2005. In January 2006, Naxos released a CD of her orchestral music called Aurolucent Circles featuring Evelyn Glennie, solo percussionist and The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with Gerard Schwarz conducting. In review of the title work on the CD, Lawson Taitte of The Dallas Morning News praised Brouwer saying, “Ms. Brouwer has one of the most delicate ears and inventive imaginations among contemporary American composers.” In February 2010 the on-line publication NewMusicBox.com ran a feature about Brouwer. A 2010 Voices of Change concert (Dallas) featured several of Brouwer’s works. Her first work for children, Daniel and Snakeman, A Children’s Symphonic Drama, was premiered by CityMusic Cleveland in May 2011.  Donald Rosenberg of The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote, "Music's power to unite is one of the key messages in Margaret Brouwer's Daniel and Snakeman, a disarming piece for listeners of all ages."  On opening night of the 2011 Festival, August 5, the Festival will present the west coast premiere of Margaret Brouwer’s Pulse.

www.margaretbrouwer.com

Photo by: Christian Steiner