The Portfolio Composer

Frank Felice is an eclectic composer who writes with a postmodern mischievousness: each piece speaks in its own language, and they can be by turns comedic/ironic, simple/complex, subtle/startling or humble/reverent. Recent projects of Felice's have taken a turn towards the sweeter side, exploring a consonant adiatonicism.

His music has been performed extensively in the U.S. as well as garnering performances in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, Austria, the Phillipines, the Czech Republic and Hungary. His commissions have included funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Omaha Symphony, the Indiana Arts Commission, The Indiana Repertory Theatre, Dance Kaleidoscope, Music Teachers National Association, the Wyoming State Arts Board, the Indianapolis Youth Symphony, Kappa Kappa Psi/Tau Beta Sigma as well as many private commissions and consortia. A recording of electronic and electro-acoustic music entitled "Sidewalk Music" is available on Capstone Records & Ravello records on iTunes, Naxos and other online sites. Scores and other performance materials can be obtained from MMB Music or Mad Italian Bros. Ink Publishing.

In this episode Frank Felice discusses the role of hobbies and outside influences on composition.

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Versatile, sophisticated, and accomplished, Clarice Assad is a sought after symphonic composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and vocalist of musical depth and ability. Her music embraces a wide variety of styles, including her own original musical concepts. Her music has been recorded and performed by the most prominent soloists, conductors and orchestras in the world today including violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, mandolinist Mike Marshall, The Assad Brothers, conductors Marin Alsop, David Alan Miller and Christoph Eschenbach; Chanticleer, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo and the New Century Chamber Orchestra to name a few. Ms. Assad is the recipient of such awards as the Aaron Copland Award, several ASCAP awards, Meet The Composer's Van Lier Fellowship, the Franklin Honor Society, as well as a nomination from the Latin Grammy Foundation for best contemporary composition. She has been commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Fundação OSESP, the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Concordia Chamber Players, the Albany Symphony, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, PRO MUSICA Chamber Orchestra, the BRAVO! Music Festival, La Jolla Music Festival, among others. Assad has been the principal staff arranger for the New Century Chamber Orchestra since 2006. Clarice has also written for theater and ballet. As a performer, Assad has received acclaim for her performances of both original compositions and her own arrangements of popular Brazilian songs and jazz standards.

In this episode Clarice discusses the endless possibilities in new music and the power of letting go.

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Paul Osterfield is a composer and Professor of Music and Middle Tennessee State University. His compositions have received performances both internationally and throughout the United States.  Osterfield has been a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony, and has won Middle Tennessee State University's Outstanding Creative Arts Faculty Award, an Individual Artist Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission, and awards from BMI, ASCAP, and the National Federation of Music Clubs. Osterfield's works are available on the Albany, Equilibrium, Ravello, and Navona labels. Of Osterfield's orchestral work Monadnock, Audiophile Audition's critic Daniel Coombs writes: "Osterfield has a very colorful and sensual style of orchestrating that would remind some of that of his teachers....This is really a dramatic and impressive work."

In this interview Paul discusses the role of inspiration and choosing higher ed as a career for composers.

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An accomplished composer and electric guitarist, D.J. Sparr has caught the attention of critics with his eclectic style, described as

“pop-Romantic… iridescent and wondrous” (Mercury News) and “suits the boundary erasing spirit of today’s new-music world” (New York Times). The Los Angeles Times praises him as “an excellent soloist” and the Santa Cruz Sentinel says that he “wowed an enthusiastic audience…Sparr’s guitar sang in a near-human voice.”

D. J. Sparr recently completed his tenure as the 2011-2014 Young American Composer-in-Residence with the California Symphony where his works were premiered by Nicholas McGegan, Donato Cabrera, and Robert Treviño. Recent premieres have been by the Washington National Opera, eighth blackbird, the Dayton Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, and Hexnut. Sparr was awarded the $10,000 grand prize in the orchestra category of the BMG/Williams College National Young Composers Competition and has received awards and recognition from BMI, the American Music Center, Eastman School of Music, George Washington University, the League of Composers/ISCM, and New Music USA. A fast rising star, D.J. Sparr’s musical vision is bound to catapult him to the realm of indispensable American composers.

In this interview D. J. Sparr discusses the importance of composers to stay active as composers as well as goal setting for your whole life.

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Ben Wysocki is a drummer, song writer, and producer based in Denver, CO. He is a member of the rock band The Fray signed with Epic Records.

In this interviewee Ben discusses with Garrett aspects of songwriting and collaboration.

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Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows

Frank La Rocca is a composer of contemporary art music, especially sacred choral music.  Trained as an academic modernist during his degree studies at Yale and U.C. Berkeley, he came to see modernism as a barrier to free musical expression and spent many years in search of a personal creative language.

Drawing upon influences as diverse as Josquin, Byrd, Stravinsky, George Crumb and Arvo Pärt, his music has been described as possessing a “luminous beauty” with “a profound sacred sensibility” and as “a modern evocation of the radiant spirituality of ancient chant.”

His catalog includes works in nearly all genres, with a special emphasis on a cappella sacred choral works.

In this interview Frank La Rocca discusses life balance and the role of improvisation in composing.

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Nathan Kelly is an LA-based composer and orchestrator. He has studied and worked in nine artist residencies across the country and overseas as a Visiting Artist & Scholar at the American Academy in Rome, producing one hundred solo works for piano and a long list of orchestral, and chamber music pieces that strive to expand and experiment in different styles and techniques ranging from post minimalist to atonality to spectralism. Receiving special education courses from instructors at Juilliard and teachers such as Steven Stucky and Robert Beaser, his original works have been featured in festivals and concert performances with chamber ensembles, orchestras and special musical artists that have recently championed his music that continues to gain a wider audience and garner awards. His newest project, an opera, will premiere in Dallas in 2016 with an orchestra and special presentation the Opera America. Actively working in both commercial and academic circles, he continually produces fresh and invigorating new work in a tireless stream of productivity and rigorous deadlines.

In this interview Nathan Kelly discusses the importance of working hard and building a large body of work.

Nicholas Deyoe is a Los Angeles based composer, conductor, and guitarist, and is the Co–Founder and Artistic Director of the wasteLAnd concert series. His music has been called “intriguingly complex and excitedly lush” by the LA Times. He has been listed on NPR’s 100 Composers Under 40. Drawn to sounds that are inherently physical, Nicholas strives to create music that engages listeners intellectually and emotionally by appealing to their inner physicality. His compositions combine uses of noise, delicacy, drama, fantasy, brutality, and lyricism to create a diverse sonic experience. As a guitarist, Nicholas strives to further the already vast sound world of the electric guitar by experimenting with microtonal tunings, preparation, bows, and beer cans. He has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, USINESONORE Festival, The La Jolla Symphony, Palimpsest, and several soloists. His music has been performed in throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. As a conductor, Nicholas has performed with The La Jolla Symphony Orchestra, Red Fish Blue Fish, Ensemble Ascolta, The Darmstadt Preisträgerensemble, Noise, The University of Northern Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and many ad-hoc ensembles in the United States and Germany. He holds a Ph.D. in composition from UC San Diego where he studied with Roger Reynolds. Deyoe’s compositions and improvisations can be heard on Sono Luminus, Populist, Spektral, Khajila, and Eh? Records.

In this interview Nicholas discusses the importance of building true relationships with performers and strategies for networking.

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Robert Paterson is a NYC-based composer who continues to gain attention here and abroad for writing “vibrantly scored and well-crafted” music that “often seems to shimmer” (NewMusicBox). His works are praised for their elegance, wit, structural integrity, and a wonderful sense of color, and Paterson was named The Composer of The Year at Carnegie Hall from the Classical Recording Foundation in 2011. His music has been on the Grammy® nomination ballot for the past two seasons, and his works were on National Public Radio’s Best Music of 2012.

In this interview Robert discuss the importance of writing appropriate music and simplicity as well as writing for and training children.

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