Assistant BYU-Hawaii music professor, Dan Bradshaw, will join six other young composers from across the nation at the seventh annual Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, where his original composition, “Chaconne for Orchestra,” will be performed by the Minnesota Orchestra. The institute is scheduled for 20-27 October in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“I will be attending the institute and soaking up all the learning I can in the week I’ll be there,” said Bradshaw. “It’s a rare opportunity to get such individual attention from such qualified professional musicians.
Bradshaw will have the opportunity to work and consult with Aaron Jay Kernis, one of America’s most honored young composers. He is one of the youngest composers ever to be awarded the Grawemeyer Award, the Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy nomination.
| Aaron Jay Kernis |
His music figures prominently on orchestral, chamber, and recital programs around the world. He is currently the new music advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra.
Institute participants will also work with Minnesota Orchestra music director, Osmo Vanska, who will direct each of the new compositions and be available for consultation with the individual institute composers before and after their rehearsals.
| Osmo Vanska |
Finnish conductor, Vanska, is recognized for his compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires, as well as the close rapport he establishes with the musicians he leads. He has been the conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2003.
“Chaconne for Orchestra” was composed as Bradshaw’s dissertation for his Ph.D., which he received from Indiana University. The piece was composed in 2006 while Bradshaw was in Utah. “It has yet to be performed,” said Bradshaw, “so this is a wonderful opportunity for me.
In describing his composition, Bradshaw said, “I wanted my work to be clearly allied with the past, while still living in the 21st century.” He said has kept traditional elements of the traditional Chaconnes (the slow, solemn character, the triple meter) in his compositon, while exploring more adventurous elements which take the theme beyond the conventions of the 18th and 19th centuries.
In answer to the question, “Why did you write a Chaconne?,” Bradshaw responded with this little story:
“As a young child, I would watch my older sister play Bach, Chopin, and Rachmanninoff. Then as she left the piano, I would get on the bench and play everything she had just played. None of the notes were there, but there were highs and lows, louds and softs, and I poured my own emotion into my imitation of her playing.
I suppose writing a Chaconne has been a similar exercise for me: the awe and fascination I have felt through experiencing the music of Bach and Brahms made me want to try it myself. I wanted to express my own ideas and passions. I chose to express them through a Chaconne to show their connection (and my connection) to the music of the past.”