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AARON CASSIDY (US) Aaron Cassidy (b. Illinois, USA, 1976) is a young composer and conductor with a growing international presence. His work has been performed by some of the world’s premier contemporary music specialists, including Ensemble SurPlus, Ictus Ensemble, ensemble recherche, 175 East, ELISION, Kairos Quartet, Quatuor Diotima, Mieko Kanno, Garth Knox, Ian Pace, Christopher Redgate, and Carl Rosman, at such venues as the Gaudeamus International Music Week (Jurors Prize nominee, 2002 & 2004), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Bludenzer tage zeitgemäßer musik, Abbaye Royaumont, the British Music Information Centre, Bienal Internacional de Musica Y Tecnologia (Mexico City), Samtida Musik Stockholm, June In Buffalo, Akademie Schloss Solitude, and the ISCM World Music Days (Zagreb 2005), and has been broadcast by the BBC, Radio France, Deutschland Radio Berlin, Österreichischer Rundfunk, and ABC Classic FM. His work was again selected as an official submission of the USA for the 2006 ISCM World Music Days. He has received grants, stipends, and commissions from allerArt Bludenz, the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music, Haupstadtkulturfonds Berlin, New York Foundation for the Arts, Schloss Solitude Sommerakademie, ASCAP, and the American Music Center. Also regularly active as a conductor, Cassidy has led performances by student and professional ensembles in a diverse range of contemporary repertoire. In addition to conducting engagements at the June in Buffalo festival and in a wide variety of university settings, he served as conductor and pianist for Augenmusik, a Buffalo-based ensemble specializing in the performance of graphical scores and open-form works. Upcoming concerts include projects with Chicago's Dal Niente. As an author his contributions include chapters in the first two volumes of Wolke Verlag's New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century series, an article on the compositional pedagogy of Michael Finnissy for a forthcoming book edited by John Habron, and an article on Spahlinger's 128 erfüllte augenblicke for a forthcoming issue of Contemporary Music Review. Additionally, he has been increasingly active as a CD producer, most notably with EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble's critically-acclaimed recent releases on the NMC label. In 2003, he completed a Ph.D. in Composition as a Presidential Fellowship recipient at the University at Buffalo (SUNY) under the guidance of David Felder, where he was awarded a Dissertation Fellowship for advanced research. He has studied additionally in masterclass and lesson settings with such composers as Richard Barrett, Chaya Czernowin, Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey, Alvin Lucier, and Tristan Murail, among numerous others. Cassidy served on the Composition faculty of the Northwestern University School of Music in Evanston, Illinois, from 2005-2007. In addition to private and classroom teaching, he was also responsible for organizing the New Music Northwestern concert series. He formerly served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Buffalo State College, where he taught music theory, composition, and was the coordinator of the Music Computer Lab. Prior to that, he taught composition, music theory, aural skills, and keyboard at the University at Buffalo. www.aaroncassidy.com CONDUCTOR. Aaron Cassidy has been active as a conductor of choral and instrumental music for over fifteen years. His earliest experiences came as a student conductor for several choral ensembles and included conducting opportunities in France, Japan, Korea, and throughout the USA while still a young chorister. His first professional post came when he was appointed Interim Assistant Conductor of the Texas Boys Choir at age 19, which was followed by a number of positions and guest conducting engagements at several universities and churches, including significant experience with the traditional choral repertoire. Since 2000, his primary focus has been new and experimental instrumental music. From 2002-04, he served as conductor and pianist for Augenmusik (now the Open Music Ensemble), a Buffalo, NY-based chamber ensemble specializing in the performance of graphical scores and open-form works. The group performed throughout the Eastern USA and Eastern Canada, including featured performances at Brandeis University, the June in Buffalo festival, and with the Wandelweiser Composers Collective in Montreal. More recently, he has worked with a number of student and professional ensembles in the context of various university composition faculty positions, and has conducted numerous student works. Most notably, as Co-Director of New Music Northwestern at Northwestern University, he was responsible for the concert programming of an extensive contemporary music concert series; in addition to conducting works by established composers, his position included responsibilities conducting works by student composers in performances and reading sessions by both student and visiting professional ensembles. After several years working in academia, he has returned to a commitment to conducting. His recent repertoire interests have spanned a wide range of musical aesthetics and include works ranging from highly determinate, complex notation to graphical notation in the American experimental tradition. He is also well versed in the standard classical repertoire, including most major choral works of the 18th and 19th centuries. Upcoming 2008 concerts include work with Chicago's ensemble dal niente, with planned repertoire to include works by Beat Furrer, Evan Johnson, Caspar Johannes Walter, and others. Selected 20th/21st Century Conducting Repertoire Louis Andriessen Workers Union Augenmusik, 2003 Cornelius Cardew Autumn '60 Augenmusik, June in Buffalo, 2003 Augenmusik, Brandeis University, 2003 Augenmusik, University at Buffalo, 2003 Pablo Chin Echoes of the Steppenwolf International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Northwestern University, April 2007 Aldo Clementi Satz 2 New Music Northwestern, January 2007 Nomi Epstein [untitled] International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Northwestern University, April 2007 ad hoc ensemble, Northwestern University, May 2007 Jürg Frey Six Instruments, Series (North American premiere) New Music Northwestern, January 2007 Jürg Frey Stücke (world premiere) Northwestern University, November 2006 Jeff Herriott Lock: 2x2 (+1) (world premiere) University at Buffalo, March 2001 Anestis Logothetis Kulmination I Augenmusik, 2003 Anestis Logothetis Kulmination II Augenmusik, June in Buffalo, 2003 Augenmusik, Brandeis University, 2003 Augenmusik, University at Buffalo, 2003 Jeffrey Nelson Southern Harmony No. 3 International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Northwestern University, April 2007 Hyun-Ah Shim untitled (world premiere) June in Buffalo Festival Ensemble, June in Buffalo 2003 Carter Williams Whistling Window 1a, for two barytons Hauschka Ensemble, 2002 www.aaroncassidy.com |
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