Biography
Photo by Ann Marsden
Shorter Biography: Elizabeth Alexander's music moves effortlessly between concert stage, choir loft and jam session, invariably invoking the simple and extraordinary, the ethereal and commonplace, and the beauty and messiness of life. Critics have called her music "contemplative and hopeful," "awesomely fresh," and "particularly potent," with praise for its "elegance..., subtle, unexpected harmonic turns, and freshness within a well-known language." Her many commissions include works for orchestra, chamber ensembles and chorus, written for such performers as Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, Society for New Music, Women's Works, Elmer Iseler Singers, Cornell University Chorus and Cincinnati Mens Chorus. Other notable performers of her music include Charleston Symphony Orchestra; chamber ensembles North/South Consonance and Sounds New; singers Ruth MacKenzie, Bradley Greenwald and Janet Youngdahl; and hundreds of choirs, including VocalEssence, Gregg Smith Singers, New York Virtuoso Singers, Kansas City Chorale, San Francisco Gay Mens Chorus, and the entire student body of Waunakee Elementary School. Her passion for language is reflected in her catalogue of 20 songs and over 60 choral works. Reviewers frequently refer to "the close personal resonance between the composer and the words," commenting on her music's ability to "touch on a range of emotions" with "delicacy and sincerity." A reviewer for Philadelphia's Broad Street Review described one of her choral works as "the most personally moving piece I encountered...between Thanksgiving and Twelfth Night." Alexander studied composition with Steven Stucky, Jack Gallagher, Yehudi Wyner and Karel Husa, receiving her bachelors degree from The College of Wooster and her doctorate from Cornell University. Her piano study included classical piano with Daniel Winter, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson and George Barth, and jazz piano with Molly MacMillan. She has been the recipient of numerous grants, awards and fellowships from such organizations as the Jerome Foundation, New York Council on the Arts, Wisconsin Arts Board, National Orchestral Association, Meet the Composer and American Composers Forum, as well as over a dozen national and international awards for individual works. Longer Biography: Elizabeth Alexander was born in Chester, South Carolina, and spent her childhood in the Carolinas and the Appalachian region of Ohio. The daughter of a piano teacher and a minister, she grew up playing Bach, Chopin, Prokofiev, Billy Joel, church music, and whatever she heard on the radio. Alexander's compositional influences are wide ranging, including such unlikely bedfellows as folk, Latin and classic jazz, gospel, Barbershop, atonality and Western classical music. Moving effortlessly between concert stage, choir loft and jam session, her music invariably invokes the simple and extraordinary, the ethereal and commonplace, and the beauty and messiness of life. Her passion for language, and in particular for modern American poems, is reflected in her catalogue of 20 songs and over 60 choral works. Reviews of her vocal music frequently refer to "the close personal resonance between the composer and the words." The Eugene Register-Guard noted that "Alexander's work develops fully, touching on a range of emotions," while a critic for Philadelphia's Broad Street Review described one choral work as "the most personally moving piece I encountered...between Thanksgiving and Twelfth Night." Other writers have commented on her music's "fresh sounds and moods," "delicacy and sincerity," and "elegance..., subtle, unexpected harmonic turns, and freshness within a well-known language." Alexander's music also includes humorous pieces, as well as growing number of theatrical songs. In one instance, the Wisconsin State Journal reported that "the music's wonderful variety and expressiveness...prompted joyful laughs from the audience," a side effect also in evidence during recent performances of pieces she created at Nautilus Music-Theater's Composer-Librettist Studio. Her current commission to write a new work for vocalist Ruth MacKenzie, funded through the Jerome Foundation, weaves art song and folk music together into a multi-movement one-woman drama. Her many commissions have included works for chorus, chamber ensembles and orchestra, written for such performers as Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, Society for New Music, Women's Works, Elmer Iseler Singers, Cornell University Chorus, Cincinnati Mens Chorus, and VOICES Chorale. Other notable performers of her music include Charleston Symphony Orchestra, North/South Consonance and Sounds New; such singers as Ruth MacKenzie, Bradley Greenwald and Janet Youngdahl; and hundreds of choirs, including VocalEssence, Gregg Smith Singers, New York Virtuoso Singers, Kansas City Chorale, San Francisco Gay Mens Chorus, and the entire student body of Waunakee Elementary School. Alexander holds a doctorate in Music Composition from Cornell University, where she studied with Steven Stucky, Yehudi Wyner and Karel Husa. She received her undergraduate degree in piano and composition from The College of Wooster, where her composition work with Jack Gallagher gave her a solid groundwork she still appreciates today. Her instrumental training includes classical piano with Daniel Winter, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson and George Barth, and jazz piano with Molly MacMillan. She has been the recipient of numerous grants, awards and fellowships from such organizations as the Jerome Foundation, New York Council on the Arts, Wisconsin Arts Board, National Orchestral Association, International League of Women Composers, and American Composers Forum, as well as over a dozen national and international awards for individual works. In addition to teaching private lessons in composition and piano, Alexander has cultivated the talents of young composers and musicians by leading over a dozen residencies in schools and arts programs in Wisconsin, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maine and Minnesota. Her many Meet the Composer and Creative Connections grants have allowed her to coach rehearsals of choirs, chamber ensembles, and high school and community orchestras, as well as leading composition workshops and giving pre-concert lectures. For the past twelve years, Alexander has published her own music through Seafarer Press. Her music is available through over 100 dealers across North America, and is regularly featured at national music festivals and conferences. With a little help from her friends and family (actually, quite a lot of help), she learns more and more each year about contracts, accounting, graphic design, pricing, shipping, promotion, and many other things she never thought she'd need to know. |
