Joshua Hummel Wins $5000 Frederick Fennell Prize in Competition for Young Composers of Concert Band Music
New York, NY, December 9, 2010: Frances Richard, Vice President and Director of Concert Music of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and Thomas C. Duffy, President of CBDNA (College Band Directors National Association), today jointly announced the fifth bi-annual ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize winner. The competition, named for Frederick Fennell, ASCAP member and past President of CBDNA, was established to encourage gifted American composers who create new works for Concert Band. The winning work was selected via a juried national competition, which attracted submissions from eligible composers (between the ages of 18 and 30) from across the United States.
The $5000 Prize, for a wind ensemble work, has been awarded to Joshua Hummel, age 30, for "Haiku Symphony No. 4." The award winning work will be performed during the National CBDNA Conference at the University of Washington in Seattle, March 21– 26, 2011.
Hummel has been commissioned by The No Boarders Quartet, the New England Girls Choir and the University "Jurja Dobrile" in Pula, Croatia for a bayan quintet. He has received awards and honors from the Hartt School of Music, the Spectrum Singers and the Soundforth Publications Composition competition. Soundforth has also published his collection of Christmas chamber music. Hummel will receive his Masters of Music in Composition this year from the Hartt School. He earned his M.A. in Fine Arts with a dramatic production concentration, and his B.M. from Bob Jones University, studying piano, composition and theory. Born in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, Joshua Hummel currently resides in Hartford, Connecticut. He composes for Colors in Motion, an artist collective. He is an adjunct professor of humanities at Capital Community College and a private piano and composition instructor. Further information is available at www.joshummel.com
Thomas C. Duffy said, "CBDNA is proud of this partnership with ASCAP, which commemorates the legacy of Frederick Fennell by cultivating and promoting new repertoire for the concert band. The Frederick Fennell Prize singles out the most talented composers writing for the wind band today, and introduces their music to music directors across the country."
Frances Richard said, "We are proud to commemorate Frederick Fennell’s legacy by recognizing the works of outstanding young composers selected in his name. He was a revered member of ASCAP, devoted to building a great repertory for the Concert Band/Wind Ensembles in which he took such great pride."
Additional works selected for Honorable Mention by the Jury will be circulated to ensembles performing at regional CBDNA conferences.
Honorable Mention:
- Jeremy Beck, age 25, New York, New York – "Symphony No. 1, Metropolis" for symphonic concert band
- Viet Cuong, age 19, Baltimore, Maryland – "Ziggurat" for wind band
- Steve Danyew, age 26, Westminster, Massachusetts – "Lauda" for wind ensemble/concert band
- Ian Dicke, age 28, Austin, Texas – "Song of the Telegraph" for wind ensemble
- Christopher Stark, age 29, Missoula, Montana – "Augenblick" for wind ensemble and electronics
The ASCAP composer jurors for the 2010 competition were Eric Ewazen and Jonathan Newman. The conductor jurors were Jerry Junkin (University of Texas at Austin) and Mallory Thompson (Northwestern University).
"Haiku Symphony No. 4" (2010) by Joshua Hummell
Duration: 5 ´30, Published by Sinensis Music
Instrumentation:
2 Fl, 2 Ob, 3 Cl, 1 Bs.cl, 2 Bsn, Sop.Ten.Bar Sax,
3 Tpt, 4 Hn, 3 Trb, 1 Euph, 1 Tba,
Timp. + 3 Perc: glock , sus cymb., marim, 2 congas, 2 bongos, sand shaker
Program Note:
the sun is awake,
dandelions lift their heads
in celebration
Haiku Symphony No. 4 is a powerhouse of threes, fives, sevens, and seventeens. These numbers are derived from the formal literary components of a traditional English haiku: three lines of poetry, two lines of five syllables surrounding one line of seven, and seventeen syllables in all. Haiku 4 works these elements into a bit of a romp that reminds one of sunshine, fragrant flowers, endless childhood memories, the beauty of a summer day. All we need is to take the wind ensemble to a verdant meadow, put dandelions in their hair and have them play barefoot while gamboling about the tall grass.
About CBDNA: CBDNA members are devoted to the study, teaching, and performance of music, with a particular focus on music created for the numerous kinds of wind bands found throughout today's musical landscape. www.cbdna.org