New Organ and Choral Compositions
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2010-11 Composition Contest details
Donate now!
Please visit the Make a Gift page, or contact Lorraine Brochu at 773.702.7059 to contribute to this important initiative. Your support will ensure opportunities for student, faculty, and independent composers to have their work brought to life at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, and sent out into the world from our own campus. We will be honored to invite you to the premiere of the new works your donation supports, and to recognize you in our programs.
A new initiative to create musical history
Following the restoration and rededication of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel’s magnificent E.M. Skinner organ, a new endowment was established for the commissioning of contemporary works for choir and organ – giving today’s students the opportunity to take part in musical history in a way that will both shape their lives and also mark the University’s international prominence as a center for the study and practice of the arts. New musical compositions written for the Chapel choir and organ are being commissioned annually with the purpose of expanding the choral repertoire for academic, ceremonial, and interreligious events. Their publication, bearing a dedication to the Chapel, brings this wonderful music and the University of Chicago’s artistic signature to ensembles around the world.
Already, the following works have received their world premieres here since the establishment of the endowment:
- Song for St. Cecilia’s Day by William Bolcom, written for the Gala Concert 2008, celebrating the rededication of the organ and carillon
- Hymn of the Universe by Marta Ptaszynska, written for the Gala Concert 2008, celebrating the rededication of the organ and carillon
- Wisdom Canticles by James Kallembach, written for the installation of Elizabeth Davenport as the Sixth Dean of Rockefeller Chapel
- Wachet Auf by Sven-David Sandström, a new setting of the familiar words of J.S. Bach’s cantata, which received its world premiere at Rockefeller Chapel in February
- Albert Schweitzer Portrait by Gene Scheer
Three new works have been commissioned for the University’s 500th Convocation on October 9, 2009:
- A new work by Marta Ptaszynska, Helen B.& Frank L. Sulzberger Professor of Music and the Humanities
- A new work by Shulamit Ran, Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor of Music
- A new work by Kotoka Suzuki, Assistant Professor of Music
In addition, the Chapel has recently been the setting for national premieres, including Robert Moran’s Stimmen des letzten Siegels and Sven-David Sandström’s Magnificat.
In the next year, we will offer commissioning opportunities to University students, and hope to engage other renowned composers for festivals around themes including human rights and environmental issues. Please consider making a gift to the endowment for new works for choir and organ.
