2013 Conference

October 17-18, 2013
Nebraska Wesleyan University

Commissioned Composer: Libby LarsenLibby Larsen

pdf file Libby Larsen Bio

Libby Larsen (b. 24 December 1950, Wilmington, Delaware) is one of America’s most prolific and most performed living composers. She has created a catalogue of over 500 works spanning virtually every genre from intimate vocal and chamber music to massive orchestral works and over fifteen operas. Her music has been praised for its dynamic, deeply inspired, and vigorous contemporary American spirit. Constantly sought after for commissions and premieres by major artists, ensembles and orchestras around the world, Libby Larsen has established a permanent place for her works in the concert repertory.

Larsen has been hailed as “the only English-speaking composer since Benjamin Britten who matches great verse with fine music so intelligently and expressively” (USA Today); as “a composer who has made the art of symphonic writing very much her own.” (Gramophone); as “a mistress of orchestration” (Times Union); and for “assembling one of the most impressive bodies of music of our time” (Hartford Courant). Her music has been praised for its “clear textures, easily absorbed rhythms and appealing melodic contours that make singing seem the most natural expression imaginable.” (Philadelphia Inquirer) “Libby Larsen has come up with a way to make contemporary opera both musically current and accessible to the average audience.” (The Wall Street Journal). “Her ability to write memorable new music completely within the confines of traditional harmonic language is most impressive.” (Fanfare)

Libby Larsen has received numerous awards and accolades, including a 1994 Grammy as producer of the CD: The Art of Arlene Augér, an acclaimed recording that features Larsen’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. Her opera Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus was selected as one of the eight best classical music events of 1990 by USA Today. The first woman to serve as a resident composer with a major orchestra, she has held residencies with the California Institute of the Arts, the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, the Philadelphia School of the Arts, the Cincinnati Conservatory, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony, and the Colorado Symphony. Larsen’s many commissions and recordings are a testament to her fruitful collaborations with a long list of world-renowned artists, including The King’s Singers, Benita Valente, and Frederica von Stade, among others. Her works are widely recorded on such labels as Angel/EMI, Nonesuch, Decca, and Koch International.

As a past holder of the 2003-2004 Harissios Papamarkou Chair in Education at the Library of Congress and recipient of the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Libby Larsen is a vigorous, articulate champion of the music and musicians of our time. In 1973, she co-founded (with Stephen Paulus) the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum, which has been an invaluable advocate for composers in a difficult, transitional time for American arts. Consistently sought-after as a leader in the generation of millennium thinkers, Libby Larsen’s music and ideas have refreshed the concert music tradition and the composer’s role in it.

For more information, see: www.libbylarsen.com.

Dmitri VorobievGuest Artist: Dmitri Vorobiev

pdf file Dmitri Vorobiev Bio

Dmitri Vorobiev first came to international attention after winning the Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy in 1994. As the result of this prize he was invited to perform at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto as well as in numerous recital series throughout Italy. He has performed with various orchestras including the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, the Pretoria Chamber Orchestra, the Durban Symphony, the Terni Philharmonic, the Manhattan School of Music Symphony, the Winston-Salem Symphony, and Western Piedmont Symphony, and has appeared in solo recitals throughout the United States, Israel, Russia, South Africa, and Ireland. Mr. Vorobiev has been a major prize-winner in the Busoni, Cincinnati World, Ibla Grand Prize, A.M.A. Calabria, Iowa and Alabama international piano competitions. In January of 2000, he placed first and also took three special prizes at the UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, and in July of 2003, Dmitri won the first prize in the New Orleans International Piano Competition. Dmitri Vorobiev maintains an active concert schedule and one of his current projects is performing complete solo piano works by Ludwig van Beethoven during the next 5 years.

Vorobiev is also an active chamber music player. Some of the highlights include recording of complete sonatas for violin and piano by Bohuslav Martinu with violinist Stephen Shipps for Naxos, as well as complete piano trios by Martinu with violinist Stephen Shipps and cellist Richard Aaron also for Naxos label. He has also performed with Zemlisky String Quartet, violinist Rodney Friend and frequently appears in duo-piano recitals with his wife, Polina Khatsko.

A native of Moscow, Russia, Dr. Vorobiev began his piano studies when he was five. He attended the School of Music and the Music College of the Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with Nina Levitzkaya and Victor Bunin. In 1992, he was invited by Eric Larsen to study at the North Carolina School of the Arts where he was the recipient of the First Baptist Church and Giannini scholarships. He received his Bachelor of Music from the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1996 and in 1998 completed his Master of Music at the Manhattan School of Music, where he was a full scholarship student of Marc Silverman and winner of the Harold Bauer award. In 2007 he completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Michigan School of Music where he was working with Arthur Greene. Currently Dmitri Vorobiev is the Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Northern Iowa School of Music. He also served on the piano faculty at the International Music Festival in Pilsen, Czech Republic.

For more information, see: www.dmitrivorobiev.com/biography.html or
www.uni.edu/music/faculty/vorobiev.html.

Guest Clinician: Polina KhatskoPolina Khatsko

pdf file Polina Khatsko Bio

A native of Belarus, Polina Khatsko has established herself both as an active performer and a dedicated teacher. Some of her accomplishments include the performance and recording of complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven with Anthony Elliott, as well as being a key participant in the acclaimed “Complete Solo Piano Works by Chopin” project organized by the studio of Arthur Greene.

While in Belarus, Dr. Khatsko received her musical training at the Belarussian Music Lyceum and the Belarussian State Academy of Music under the tutelage of Ariadna Guzhalovskaya and Vladimir Doulov. In 1999, she was invited by James Cook to study with him at the University of Nebraska, Kearney, with generous support of the Elaine Wallace House Memorial Scholarship. Following that, Dr. Khatsko earned her Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan as a student of Arthur Greene. During the years of studies she regularly appeared with faculty artists and ensembles, which allowed her to indulge in an enduring love of chamber music.

Dr. Khatsko has served on the piano faculty of the Schoolcraft College and the University of Michigan preparatory department. As a collaborative pianist, she has worked for the string department of the University of MIchigan School of Music, appeared as an annual staff accompanist for the prestigious Sphinx International Competition and was on the Collaborative Piano faculty of the International Music Academy in Pilsen, Czech Republic and the Cambridge International String Academy in Cambridge, U.K. Currently, she is Adjunct Instructor of Piano at the University of Northern Iowa.

For more information, see: www.uni.edu/music/faculty/khatsko.html

Hotel Information

New Victorian Suites
$59.99/night for 1 king bed
$69.99/night for 2 queen beds
Phone: 402-464-4400
Ask for the NMTA Conference Rate when making reservations

Room amenities include 42″ flat-screen TV, microwave, fridge, iron and ironing board, hair dryer, work desk and recliner or sofa sleeper. FREE deluxe 26-item breakfast served daily from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., heated indoor pool and hot tub open 24 hours, exercise room, free high-speed wireless internet, guest laundry facilities, business center, free cookies and coffee served 24 hours per day in the lobby, and a free local newspaper available in the lobby daily.

Registration Form

pdf file Registration Form

Please click the link to open the registration form. You can type your information in the fields, then print and mail it to NMTA.

Conference Schedule

pdf fileConference Schedule

NMTA Bulletin, Summer 2013

pdf file Summer Bulletin

Press Release

pdf filePress Release October 1, 2013