John donald robb composers' symposium

2013 SYMPOSIUM: March 24-27, 2013 The centenary of Igor Stravinsky’s revolutionary Rite of Spring will be celebrated during the 2013 John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium, which will take place from March 24-27 at UNM.  This year’s symposium will explore the intersection of music and movement and will feature the works of 18 accomplished composers in seven concerts. A collection of new works have been written specifically for this year’s symposium. All events are free and open to the public. Guest composers will include Volker Blumenthaler from Germany, O?uz Bükükberber from Turkey, Morris Rosenzweig from the University of Utah and Ken Ueno from the University of California at Berkeley, along with numerous New Mexican composers. Special guest performers will include internationally renowned pianist Emanuele Arciuli from Italy,Duo X (Laura Carmichael and Naomi Sato) from Amsterdam, clarinetist Greg Oakes from Iowa State University and Albuquerque’s own Chatter 20-21. An added bonus will be a demonstration of Robb’s Moog Synthesizer prior to the March 25 concert, which will feature recordings of his own compositions written for that synthesizer.  In addition, Daniel Lippel, an acclaimed New York City guitarist, will perform 1950c for restrung guitar, the winning composition of the 2012 John Donald Robb Composers’ Competition. Paul Clift, also of New York City, will be on hand for the public premiere of his winning composition. Every year, the festival, presented by the Music Department at the University of New Mexico and the UNM John Donald Robb Musical Trust, brings together accomplished composers and musicians from around the world in an innovative, boundary-shifting musical event.  Complementing a concert every evening will be master classes, lectures and additional concerts during the day.

Click HERE for a comprehensive schedule of events.

history of the symposium

In 1972, Dr. William Wood was hired as Composer-in-Residence and Associate Professor of Theory and Composition. That year, his former teacher Norman Lockwood was invited to participate in the first annual UNM Composers' Symposium, which also featured performance of works by UNM student composers. The event has continued annually since then, making it one of the longest on-going festivals of new music in the world, and one that now has attained a regional, national and international reputation. During the 1990s, the symposium was renamed and became the John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium, in honor of Dr. Robb, who served as Dean of the College of Fine Arts from 1942 to 1957.

Honored guests have included Ned Rorem, George Crumb, Vincent Persichetti, Max Schubel, Karel Husa, Gunther Schuller, David Raksin, Lukas Foss, George Rochberg, Thea Musgrave, Ernst Krenek, David Baker, Lou Harrison, John Harbison, Milton Babbitt, Christian Wolff, James Tenney, Joan Tower, Alan Hovhaness, Nicholaw Maw, Libby Larson, Julio Estrada, Pauline Oliveros, Anthony Braxton, Robert Cogan, Pozzi Escot, Gordon Getty and John Cage. In 1989, the Symposium, as part of the university's centennial, honored forty of the Music Department's alumni and friends, with special honors accorded to John Donald Robb, John Lewis and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael Colgrass. Special themes and subjects have been featured during some years, including film music (with Joji Yuasa as guest composer), music and technology (Joan La Barbara and Morton Subotnick), and music theory and jazz (Maria Schneider).

Click HERE for the website of the Robb Musical Trust.

program booklets:

		41st Annual Composers' Symposium Program (March, 2012) (PDF, 9.1MB)
		40th Annual Composers' Symposium Program (March, 2011) (PDF, 2.3MB)
		39th Annual Composers' Symposium Program (March, 2010) (PDF, 1.3MB)
		38th Annual Composers' Symposium Program (March/April, 2009) (PDF, 3MB)
		37th Annual Composers' Symposium Program (March/April, 2008) (PDF, 984KB)
		36th Annual Composers' Symposium Program (March, 2007) (PDF, 4.28MB)
		35th Annual Composers' Symposium Program (April, 2006) (PDF, 1.89MB)