Skip to main content

Welcome!

 Welcome!


"Music of the Last Ten Years (2012-2022) is a Sp 2022 graduate course being taught at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. This course concept, which is indebted to Anne Shreffler's original "Music of the Last Ten Years" course series at Harvard University, will allow us to explore (primarily) western art music composed from 2012-2022. 

-Dr. Steigerwald 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Williams (in the past 10 years)

John Williams is most well-known for composing recognizable themes and scores for Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, E.T., Harry Potter, and more. However, most casual listeners of film music (especially  among classical musicians) miss out on the wide variety of styles Williams utilizes throughout his works, beyond the famous main titles. I would like to present some of his lesser-known film works of the past ten years as a starting point for further listening. It is also important to mention that Williams has played a unique role in bridging the gap between film music and the concert hall. Williams originally studied piano at Juilliard before his composition career began. His classical background is evident in his large symphonic orchestration and neoclassical/neoromantic aesthetics. He is credited with bringing the orchestral sound to blockbuster film music in the 1970s, and he uses a Wagnerian leitmotivic approach to score with recognizable themes. Williams became the conductor for th...
14 comments
Read more

Austin Franklin's Music with Live Electronics

Austin Franklin, a friend of mine since our undergraduate days at Lamar University - before I jumped ship for Kent State, has been hard at work at Louisiana State University. Austin is completing his PhD in Experimental Music and Digital Media which includes writing code and designing specialized software within Cycling 74's program 'MaxMSP' for use in live performance with instrumentalists. While this is a large part of his work, Austin also composes music brought to the listener's ears by pure algorithms which have been presented at many festivals over the course of 2021.  Lately, I had the pleasure of premiering his most recent piece,  Concentric Circles,  for Piano, Cello, Percussion & Live Electronics. With this piece he began finalizing his methodology and goals for his PhD and electronic music. This included a variety of specially coded programs within MaxMSP which manipulate data that are taken in through microphones listening to live performers then send th...
5 comments
Read more

The Contemporary Solo E-flat Clarinet

When one thinks of contemporary works featuring the clarinet they likely think of the standard Bb clarinet or the bass clarinet. Rarely does one’s mind go towards the E-flat clarinet. Most know the E-flat clarinet as the highest pitched standard clarinet in the orchestra. Though an optional auxiliary instrument, composers such as Berlioz, Strauss, and Mahler wrote famous E-flat clarinet orchestral solos, taking advantage of the instrument’s comic and strident qualities. Recent compositions include the E-flat clarinet in solo and concerto contexts previously unheard of. These compositions require the E-flat clarinetist to perform with the same flexibility and range that clarinetists possess on larger members of the clarinet family. Oscar Navarro’s “III Concerto” for Bb/Eb clarinet utilizes the E-flat clarinet as an extension of the B-flat clarinet, allowing the clarinetist to perform with a widened range of pitch and timbre. Jenni Brandon’s Stardust demonstrates the auxiliary techniques...
11 comments
Read more