The Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University has commissioned 2005 Barlow Prize-winner Luca Antignani of Veroli, Italy, to compose a new work for chamber ensemble.
“In 2007, a consortium of four renowned American chamber ensembles have agreed to premiere his composition,” said Thomas Durham, executive director of the Barlow Endowment. “The new work will create the first partnership between Antignani and the endowment, and the first commission between the composer and any American performing ensemble.”
The ensembles that will perform the newly commissioned piece in 2007 include the Network for New Music Ensemble in Philadelphia, Pa.; Ensemble X in Ithaca, N.Y.; Indiana University New Music Ensemble in Bloomington, Ind.; and Left Coast Chamber Ensemble in San Francisco.
The 29-year-old Italian composer studied music at the Scuola Civica in Milan, the Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and at IRCAM in Paris. He has studied composition with Allessandro Solbiati, Azio Corghi, Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey, Philippe Manoury and Marco Stroppa.
Having received much recognition, as well as many honors and commissions, Antignani represented Europe at the 2002 World Forum for Young Composers in Montreal.
In addition to Antignani, several other composers received commissions in 2005, including Chen Yi, Jay Reise, Stacy Garrop, Nicolas Scherzinger, Jim Hiscott, Dan Visconti, Elizabeth Brown, Kevin Puts, Mischa Zupko, Ethan Wickman, Harriet Petherick Bushman, Gregory Duffin, Dan Bradshaw, Burton Beerman and Jeff Manookian.
Since its beginning in 1983, the Barlow Endowment has long been a proponent for new music. Annually, the endowment awards the Barlow Prize-winning composer between $10,000 and $20,000 to compose a new work.
The endowment has also commissioned four new compositions in celebration of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s birth to be performed at a Joseph Smith Bicentennial Concert Friday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall. The new works will be performed by the BYU Singers, Concert Choir, BYU Wind Symphony and BYU Philharmonic Orchestra. For tickets, contact the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 422-4377.
For more information, contact Thomas Durham at (801) 422-3226.