|
ANDOVER — Composer Morten Lauridsen will speak at Graves Hall on Wednesday, May 7 at 6:30 pm. The talk, revolving around his musical journey and life as a composer, is free and open to the public. Along with his formal talk at Graves Hall, Lauridsen will be visiting campus all week, sitting in on classes and attending various music performances.
Lauridsen, professor of composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music for more than 30 years, was recently awarded the National Medal of Arts, the highest recognition given by the National Endowment for the Arts to artists and patrons in the fields of visual, performing, and literary arts. Lauridsen’s lifetime achievement award, presented by President George Bush in a special ceremony at the White House, recognizes his preeminent place in the choral music of the 20th century.
“To be included among those distinguished individuals who have contributed so greatly to American culture is an enormous honor, for which I am immensely grateful,” Lauridsen said regarding his NEA recognition.
Lauridsen is currently one of the nation’s most performed composers. His seven vocal cycles – Les Chansons des Roses, Mid-Winter Songs, Cuatro Canciones, A Winter Come, Madrigali: Six “FireSongs” on Renaissance Italian Poems, Nocturnes and Lux Aeterna – and his series of sacred a cappella motets (O Magnum Mysterium, Ave Maria, O Nata Lux, Ubi Caritas et Amor and Ave Dulcissima Maria) are featured regularly in concert by distinguished ensembles throughout the world and have been recorded on more than 100 CDs.
|
