2011 John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium

27-MAR-2011 thru 30-MAR-2011

​40th Annual UNM & Robb Trust Composers' Symposium Included Many National and International Participants

The 2011 UNM John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium was held on the UNM Campus from Sunday, March 27, through Wednesday, March 30, 2010. The international symposium's distinguished headliner was Konrad Boehmer, a Dutch composer of German descent, who is one of the last remaining links to post-War European serialism and is himself one of its most eloquent spokespersons. In addition to an international array of participants, outstanding New Mexico composers, musicians, and UNM faculty wase featured throughout the event.

The New Mexico Symphony Chorus, directed by NMSO's Associate Conductor Roger Melone, performed featured composer, Karl Boehmer's choral piece (including two pianos and percussion). Evening performances and daytime activities (except for the Outpost Concert) all were free and open to the public.

The opening concert, in collaboration with the Outpost Performance Space, on Sunday, March 28, 7:30 PM, featured Skumbaag, a vaudeville-new music-heavy metal ensemble. Monday evening's concert featured a performance by the UNM Women's Chorus, Las Cantantes, under the direction of UNM's Maxine Thevenot, of John Donald Robb's Two Songs: "I Am Very Old Tonight" and "Tears", Opus 57, arranged by Bradley Ellingboe for Women's Chorus, Oboe, and Piano; and two short brass compositions: Miniatures (five short pieces), for Brass Quintet and Prelude and Commentary, for Brass and Percussion Ensemble.

​Other European participants included the Italian composer Barbara Rettagliati, previously a judge for the Biennial UNM Robb Trust Composer's Competition, Chong Lim Ng of Malaysia, Sergei Zhukov from Russia, and three younger composers: a former German expatriate who now lives in Ohio: Frank Cox (a cellist who will serve as artist in residence and perform a short concert of new work for cello, including his own); and two New York based composers, Martin Scherzinger and Elizabeth Hoffman. These three, in addition to Konrad Boehmer and Chris Shultis were featured in a series of discussions on "Post-War Experimental Music" that will likely be submitted for later publication in Perspectives of New Music, for which Hoffman, Scherzinger and Shultis serve as Associate Editors. UNM Music Faculty Member, Eric Lau was featured in a composition by Ron Newman, and UNM's own Andrea Polli, a well-known sound artist and former faculty member at Hunter College in New York City, contributed a sound installation piece. The symposium also included music by three new faculty members from UNM's Music Department: David Bashwiner, Karola Obermüller, and Peter Gilbert.