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Andrea Clearfield Composer and Pianist |
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Long Bio
Andrea Clearfield's (b. 1960) compositions for instrumental and vocal soloists, chamber ensembles, chorus, orchestra and dance are performed internationally. Her works have been premiered by such noted artists as Edgar Meyer, Carol Wincenc and James Buswell, actresses such as Valerie Harper and Laraine Newman, and at organizations and venues such as Merkin Hall, Disney Hall, Jordan Hall, the Kimmel Center, Royce Hall, The Curtis Institute of Music, Thuermer Saal in Bochum, Germany, Festival of Women Composers International, International Horn Symposiumin Beijing, Conservatoire de Musique in Luxembourg, Norges Musikkhogskole in Norway, Svenska Hornsallskapet in Sweden, Cologne Chamber Music Series,Teatro Maddalene in Padona, International Tanzwochen in Dresden, International Performance Art Symposium in Kyoto, Live Arts Festival in Philadelphia, Mersinio Arts Centre in Cyprus, South Bay Chamber Music Society, and the Sarasota, Norfolk, Banff, Aspen and Bowling Green Music Festivals.
She has received numerous grants and awards from organizations such as ASCAP, Meet the Composer, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Independence Foundation, the American Music Center, the American Composers Forum, the Leeway Foundation and the Philadelphia Community Education Center. She was recently awarded the Theodore Front Prize for Chamber and Orchestral Music from the International Alliance for Women in Music for her cantata, The Long Bright. She was the winner of the 2002 New Music Delaware Composition Competition, the 2000 Delaware and Pennsylvania Commissioning Competition and received first prize in the American Jewish Music Festival 2000 sponsored by the Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles. In 1998 she received an Award from the American Composers Forum for Outstanding Achievement and in 1996 she was the winner of the International Alliance for Women in Music Nancy Van De Vate Prize, SEARCH FOR NEW MUSIC for her cantata On The Pulse of Morning. Songs of the Wolf for horn and piano appears on the CD of the same title on Crystal Records CD678, recorded by Froydis Ree Wekre and the composer in Oslo, Norway, 1996 and her trio for two horns and piano, Into the Falcon's Eye (2003) appears on the Norwegian 2L label (www.2L.no) on Ms. Wekre's new CD, CEROS. Unremembered Wings for oboe and piano appears on Crystal Records, CD727 with Andrea Gullickson, oboe and Karen Enns, piano. Cyprus Trilogy was premiered at the Mersinio Arts Centre in Cyprus with Group Motion Dance Company and was broadcast on Cypriot national television. Her oratorio, Women of Valor, was performed in 2000 by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony at Royce Hall and portions of the work were broadcast nationally on NPR's "All Things Considered".
Her hour-long cantata on breast cancer, The Long Bright, for soprano soloist, children's chorus and orchestra was commissioned by David Wolman who wrote the texts. The work was premiered by Hila Plitmann, The Temple University Music Prep Children's Choir and Orchestra 2001 at the Kimmel Center, April, 2004 and the concert served as a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Current commissions include Fire and Ice, a cantata for soprano and baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra to the poetry of Robert Frost, commissioned by the Handel Society of Dartmouth College in celebration of their 200 Year Anniversary, Sonic Circuits for Cello and Film (with interactive technology), commissioned by Chamber Music Now, and a new work for The Debussy Trio, Cherry Rhoades, organist, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale for premiere at Disney Hall in 2008, commissioned by The Debussy Trio. Romanza for Violin and Chamber Orchestra, commissioned by Orchestra 2001 was recently premiered by violinist Gloria Justen and Orchestra 2001, April 14 and 15, 2007 at the Trinity Center in Philadelphia and Swarthmore College. Other recent premieres include The Rim of Love for soprano and orchestra commissioned by Astral, the Kimmel Center, March, 2006 with soloist Disella Larusdottir and the Haddonfield Symphony to texts by Manfred Fischbeck, Rossen Milanov, Music Director and The Golem Psalms, commissioned by The Mendelssohn Club, Alan Harler, Music Director, Irvine Auditorium, May, 2006 with baritone Sanford Sylvan, The Mendelssohn Club and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia with libretto by Ellen Frankel. Her work for chorus and organ, The River of God, commissioned by the American Guild of Organists, was premiered at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church on October 23 as part of the Inaugural Service for their new organ, Jeffrey Brillhart, music director/organist, and the west coast premiere took place at Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in January, 2006. She was also the curator for a new program at the Kimmel Center, Mozart: Reloaded, a multi-media event featuring Philadelphia area composers and performers celebrating Mozart's 250's birthday in January, 2006 (www.kimmelcenter.org).
She has been a resident at Yaddo, where she was awarded the Aaron Copland Residency for an American Composer, the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Ragdale Foundation, the Banff Centre, Blue Mountain Center, the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, the Ucross Foundation, the Millay Colony, and she will be composer in residence at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, N.M. this summer. Her works were part of the 2004 PA Council on the Arts Exhibition and the 2004 Albany International Airport Gallery's exhibition, In the Studio.
Since 1986, Dr. Clearfield has served on the composition faculty of The University of the Arts. She received a BA in Music from Muhlenberg College where she graduated with Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors and first place awards in Performance and Musicianship, studying with Margaret Garwood who continues to be her mentor. She received an MM in Piano from The University of the Arts as a student of Susan Starr, and a DMA in Composition from Temple University where she was a student of Maurice Wright, a recipient of the Presidential Fellowship and a two-time winner of the John Henry Heller, Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence in Composition. She was honored by Temple University in 2004 as a distinguished alum. She has also studied orchestration with Jonathan Kramer. As a pianist, she has performed with numerous ensembles including The Court of the Dalai Lama and is the pianist in the Relâche Ensemble for Contemporary Music (www.relache.org). A strong believer of creating community through music, she is also the founder, host and producer of the Philadelphia SALON Concert Series, featuring contemporary, classical, jazz, electronic and world music, now celebrating its 20th year.
Andrea Clearfield |