In Reverence

The music of American art song composer Juliana Hall (b. 1958) has been called “brilliant” (Washington Post), “beguiling” (Times of London), and “the most genuinely moving music of the afternoon” (Boston Globe). Hall studied with Martin Bresnick, Leon Kirchner, and Frederic Rzewski at the Yale School of Music, concluding her formal study with Dominick Argento in Minneapolis.

In 1987, Hall received her first commission - from the Schubert Club of Saint Paul, MN - for a song cycle for soprano Dawn Upshaw. In 1989 Hall received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and since that time her songs have been performed in 29 countries on six continents. In addition to performances at prestigious concert venues including the 92nd Street Y, the Library of Congress, Théâtre du Châtelet, and Wigmore Hall, her songs have been presented at the London Festival of American Music, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Ojai Music Festival, and Tanglewood Music Center. Hall has composed works for Metropolitan Opera singers Molly Fillmore, Tammy Hensrud, David Malis, and Korliss Uecker. She has also collaborated with star countertenor Brian Asawa, and her next project is a collaboration with star mezzo soprano Stephanie Blythe, who has described her songs as “positively magical.” The songs of Juliana Hall are published by Boosey & Hawkes, E. C. Schirmer, and Juliana Hall Music (ASCAP).

Midsummer was it When they Died

Hailed as a “composer with a career to follow” by the Ridgefield Press, Paul Frucht is an American composer whose music has been acclaimed for its “sense of lyricism, driving pulse, and great urgency” (WQXR) and “excellent orchestration” (Ridgefield Press). His music has been commissioned and performed by the American Composers Orchestra, Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra, Chelsea Symphony, Juilliard Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Weill-Cornell Music and Medicine Orchestra, Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra, American Modern Ensemble, Asian American New Music Institute, Ensemble dal Niente, violinist Hannah Ji, Kyoto International Music Festival, the Les Deux violin duo, LONGLEASH Trio, New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute, pianoSonomna Music Festival, cellist Julian Schwarz, Utah Arts Festival, and the Charles Ives Concert Series in Danbury, CT, of which Paul currently serves as artistic director.

A 2015 recipient of a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, he has also received awards and recognition ASCAP, the Juilliard School, Periapsis Music and Dance, the American Modern Ensemble, the Nashville Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Red Note New Music Festival, and the American Composers Orchestra, from whom he received the Audience Choice Award for his work Dawn, which was showcased by the ACO as part of the 25th Annual Underwood New Music Readings.

Paul is currently a D.M.A. candidate at the Juilliard School, where he received an M.M. in 2013, studying with Robert Beaser. He holds a B.M. from New York University, where he studied with Justin Dello Joio.

Come My Tan-Faced Children

A third-generation American composer and conductor based in Santa Monica, David Avshalomov is also an accomplished bass vocalist. He composes in an accessible neo-tonal, modern Romantic style that balances a lyric gift with characteristic rhythmic vitality and pungent harmonies. His influences include bthe great 20th-century tonal composers (plus his late father Jacob and grandfather Aaron). He has written for forces ranging from solo instruments to full orchestra, band, and chorus, from songs and incidental pieces to full-length oratorio, with an increasing number of regional commissions. Currently he is writing his second opera. His music has been performed professionally across the US, in Europe, Russia, and the Far East, and recorded on Albany and Naxos. He has won numerous grants and competitions, most recently The American Prize for Band Composition (1st Place 2015, 2nd Place 2016, 3rd Place 2014, and frequent Finalist in other categories); the 2016 IOCSF Choral Composition Competition (First Place), Five VoxNovus 15 Minutes of Fame awards, Honored Artist of the American Prize 2014, a 2013 ACDA Silver Platter Award for Choral Composition, and a 2012 Special Judges’ Citation for Unique ArtisticAchievement and Distinctive Merit from the American Prize for Orchestral Composition.

He earned his B.A in Music at Harvard and a D.M.A. in conducting (Krachmalnick) and composition (Bergsma, Verrall, Suderberg) at the University of Washington, studied at Aspen (Morel, Blomstedt, Torkanowsky, Jones [composition]), and Tanglewood (Bernstein, Schuller, Ozawa), was music director of several US orchestras and choruses on both coasts, guest conducted widely, has toured in Europe and the Far East, and recorded orchestral music by his grandfather Aaron in Moscow for Naxos. His conducting work has garnered frequent listings in Who's Who in Music and Who's Who in the West.