Annual American Composers Update
Michael G. Cunningham
Theory/composition professor at the University of Wisconsin
- Eau Claire Department of Music and Theatre Arts, Michael
G. Cunningham is a resident of Altoona, WI. Recent compositions
are
Shakespeare Sonnets -- Set 6, for voice and
piano;
The Nine Muses, for woodwind quintet;
Nassau
Cabana, for middle school band; and
Rondaletto,
for euphonium and piano.
Premieres
Piano Trio No. 6 and
Piano Quintet had their
first performances Mar. 24, 1998 at Viterbo College, in
La Crosse, WI with members of the Artaria Quartet of Boston.
Heard first in 1998 at the University of Wisconsin - Eau
Claire were
Flute Sonata No. 2, with Tim Lane and
pianist Barbara Wimunc-Pearson (Apr. 1); and
Good Sense
(text based on Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Sayings),
a glee for SATB choir and piano, with an SAI/Phi Mu Alpha
chorus (Apr. 27).
Shall I Compare Thee (text by
Shakespeare), for choir, piano, and brass, was commissioned
and premiered by Stephanie Graber and the Menomonie (WI)
Community Choir, Apr. 5, 1998, and then taken on the group's
Apr.-June 1998 tour of 10 European cities. Soprano Rita
Baretta and pianist Elaine Moss introduced
Shakespeare
Sonnets, Set 6 at the Wisconsin Alliance for Composers
conference, Sept. 26, 1998 in Green Bay.
Performances
Accompanied by the composer, saxophonist Matthew Pivec
performed
Triskelion, Mar. 23, 1998, at the University
of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. On June 4, 1998 at Ball State
University, in Indiana, saxophonist George Wolfe, cellist
Roger Malitz, and pianist Cynthia Miller gave a performance
of
Incidental Music for The Importance of Being Ernest.
Mark Pruett presented
Piano Sonata No. 6 at the
University of Wisconsin - Stout, Mar. 29, 1998. As part
of 1998 tours of the Organ Historical Society's Wisconsin
chapter, organist David Bohn played part of
Miraculous
Legends at the First Baptist Church, in Hudson (May
15), and then played the complete work at St. Matthew's
Episcopal Church in Kenosha (Nov. 29).
Recordings
Trigon, for tenor saxophone and piano; Thomas Walsh;
RIAX
Shaking the Pumpkin CD.
Further Information
