Washington State U.: '22nd Festival of Contemporary Art Music, featuring guest composer Tania León' Feb. 3-5

[Tania León]

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011

“PULLMAN, Wash. — The 22nd annual Festival of Contemporary Art Music, featuring guest composer Tania León, will be presented by Washington State University’s School of Music Feb. 3-5 in Pullman. WSU music faculty and students will perform original works by León at the festival’s capstone concert at 8 p.m. Feb. 5 in Bryan Hall Theatre. All festival concerts are free and open to the public.

“Cuban-born León has emerged as a vital personality on today's music scene. She is highly regarded as a composer, pianist and conductor and recognized for her accomplishments as an educator and advisor to arts organizations. León's music is as diverse as her French, Spanish, African and Chinese lineage. Her technical compositions, characterized by rhythmic and colorful sound and movement between tempo, musical line, timbre and texture, are laced with elements of gospel, jazz and traditional Latin American and African rhythms. New York Times music reviewer Anthony Tommasini wrote, 'Naturally, these distinctive styles clash in her music, though in a dynamic sense, as in a good fight, a feisty confrontation.' León's honors include a 2010 Latin Grammy Award nomination in the category of best classical contemporary composition for 'To and Fro (4 MOODS)' performed by Nodus Ensemble, a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship, the New York Governor's Lifetime Achievement Award, and honorary doctoral degrees from Colgate University, Oberlin College and Purchase College.

“In 2010 León was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters for her compositions. León cofounded the Dance Theatre of Harlem and is a distinguished professor of music composition at Brooklyn College, New York. She received her formal musical training at Carlos Alfredo Peyrellade Conservatory in Havana, New York University, the Juilliard School and the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. The festival begins at 11 a.m. Feb. 3 in Kimbrough Concert Hall with a recital of new works by WSU student composers. A concert featuring new works by faculty composers Ryan M. Hare, David Jarvis, Aleksander Sternfeld-Dunn and Gregory Yasinitsky follows at 8 p.m. Feb. 3 in Bryan Hall Theatre. An all-electroacoustic concert will be performed at 3 p.m. Feb. 4 in Kimbrough Concert Hall.” [The website of Tania León is http://www.tanialeon.com/; she is also profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Comment by email:
Thank you Bill, We will add you to our distribution list. Our festival Website is http://libarts.wsu.edu/artmusic and I have attached a pdf the 2011 festival flyer. All best, Gail Siegel