Annual American Composers Update

Robert Ward

SAI National Arts Associate Robert Ward resides in Durham, NC. On Aug. 2, 1997, SAI Philanthropies, Inc. board members initiated him as a National Arts Associate. On Oct. 18, 1997, the Giannini Society of the North Carolina School of the Arts presented him with The Giannini Award. Ward, who turned 80 in September 1997, has been enjoying birthday celebrations of all aspects of his work, with concerts heard in various parts of the country throughout the 1997-98 season.

Premieres

The SAI National Convention, Denver, CO, Aug. 2, 1997, included the first performance of Night Under the Big Sky, with Donna Hieken, flute; Leslie Odom, oboe; Cynthia Greider, clarinet; Betty Thompson, bassoon; Amy Propst, French horn; and Sue Haug, piano. On Sept. 14, 1997, Jimmy Gilmore, Elizabeth Bielman, and John Ruggero introduced Echoes of America, for clarinet, cello, and piano, commissioned for a Raleigh Chamber Music Guild concert of his chamber works, held at the Ravenscroft School.

Performances

Roman Fever, a one-act opera produced at Mercyhurst College's Festival Birthday Celebration along with orchestral and chamber works, Nov. 9, 1997, will be performed at the University of Tennessee, in Memphis, Feb. 13-14, 1998. Prairie Overture, heard with the Western Piedmont Symphony, conducted by John Ross, Oct. 11, 1997, is scheduled for a performance with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, under Paul Vermel, in Des Plaines, IL, Apr. 19, 1998. Under the baton of William Curry, the North Carolina Symphony presented Festive Ode, Jan. 17, 1998. A William Ferris Chorale concert will feature Ward's choral and chamber works, Mar. 20, 1998. In 1998 productions of The Crucible will take place with Opera Carolina (Mar. 26 and 28) and with the Central City (CO) Opera Association (July and Aug.).

Publications

Night Under the Big Sky; wind quintet and piano; C. F. Peters Corp. Echoes of America; clarinet, cello, and piano; Vireo Press.

Further Information

For more complete information, see Robert Ward's entry in our Composers Bureau Online.