Famed Composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle in Residence at Oberlin May 1-9

	Photo by Hanya Chlala.

Sir Harrison Birtwistle is "literally one of a handful of composers who will be viewed as completely essential to the second half of the 20th century," says Lewis Nielson, director of the Conservatory's Division of Contemporary Music and chair of the composition department. "He is absolutely vital to the continuity of contemporary music in the present."

The acclaimed British composer will be in residence at the Conservatory May 1-9, hosted by the composition department. President Nancy Dye will also confer upon him an Honorary Doctorate of Music Arts during his residency.

Sir Harrison's residency will include three free, public performances in Finney Chapel of his works, all of which will feature the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME). The residency will also include lectures and master classes.

"This residency is the most significant composition event at Oberlin since Luciano Berio was here," says Nielson.

The concert schedule is as follows:

CONCERT I
On Tuesday, May 3, at 8 p.m., the Oberlin Percussion Group and the CME, led respectively by Professor of Percussion Michael Rosen and Associate Professor of Conducting Timothy Weiss, will perform For O, For O the Hobby Horse is Forgot and Theseus Game. The concert will be followed by a discussion with the composer, moderated by a Conservatory faculty member, on the composition and ritualistic components in the two works.

CONCERT II
On Wednesday, May 4, at 8 p.m., the CME will perform Pulse Shadows, again led by Weiss, featuring soprano Tony Arnold '90. A post-concert discussion with Sir Harrison will focus on Pulse Shadows as well as the work's inspiration: the poetry of Paul Célan.

CONCERT III
On Friday, May 6, at 8 p.m. Weiss will lead the CME and the Oberlin Wind Ensemble as they perform Ritual Fragment, Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum, Silbury Air, and Ring a Dumb Carillon. Featured faculty soloists include Professor of Singing Marlene Ralis Rosen, Assistant Professor of Clarinet Richard Hawkins, and Professor of Percussion Michael Rosen. The concert will be preceded at 7 p.m. by a discussion about the works to be performed.

About the Composer
A native of Accrington, England, Birtwistle studied clarinet and composition at the Royal Manchester College of Music. In 1965, he sold his clarinets to devote all his efforts to composition, and he moved to Princeton, where he was named a Harness Fellow. It was there that he completed the opera Punch and Judy. This work, together with Verses for Ensembles and The Triumph of Time, firmly established Birtwistle as one of the great composers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Today, Birtwistle's scores are performed by such international conductors as Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Oliver Knussen, and Sir Simon Rattle. His work has been commissioned by leading performing organizations, such as the Cleveland Orchestra, for which Birtwistle composed Panic, a jazzy 'concerto' for solo saxophone and percussion, which premiered at the 1995 Last Night of the BBC Proms to an audience of 100 million worldwide.

Birtwistle's awards and honors include the Siemens Prize in 1995, the Chevalier des Arts es des Letters in 1986, a British Companion of Honor in 2001, and a British knighthood in 1988. He currently serves as director of composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London.