Madison, Wisconsin, United States
First composer to win the Berlin Prize, Laura Schwendinger, Prof. of Comp. UW Madison was born in Mexico. Her Opera with librettist Ginger Strand Artemisia, was the 2023 American Academy of Arts & Letters Ives Opera Award winner ($50,000). Her music has been championed and performed by leading artists such as Dawn Upshaw (TDK/Naxos DVD), Arditti - Spektral and JACK quartets (Albany CDs), Jennifer Koh with ICE (Miller Theater), Janine Jansen, Matt Haimovitz, Eighth Blackbird, New Juilliard Ensemble, StonyBrook Premiere, Contempo, Boston Musica Viva, Aspen Ens., Trinity Choir (Carnegie Hall), Trinity Music (Times Arrow), American Composers Orchestra, Richmond Symphony and Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra; At Carnegie, Alice Tully, Lincoln & Kennedy Centers, Wigmore, Berlin Phil., Times Center, Symphony Space, Barge-Music, Corcoran Gallery, Theatre Chatalet, Tanglewood, Aspen, Ojai Music Festivals. Honors include Guggenheim, Koussevitzky, Fromm Founds, Radcliffe Inst., Copland House & Found, Harvard Musical Assoc, Chamber Music America, MacDowell, Yaddo, and Rockefeller Found Bellagio, American Academy of Arts and Letters (Leiberson Fellowship for “composer of exceptional gifts”), first-prize ALEA III. Premieres include Miller Theater commission, American Composers Orch. Com. (Carnegie Hall), High Wire Act-performed 16+ groups, Lincoln Trio (12 Chamber Music Am. grant), JACK (New Music USA, CAP Grant), Footfalls acclaimed Sounding Beckett, Classic Stage Comp.(NY, 9/16,21-22/2012, Library of Cong.), Sinfonietta-New Juilliard Ens. (4/13). C’e la Luna Questa Sera?, Lincoln Trio, Cedille’s Notable Women ("hidden gem" UK Guardian), was critically praised. Zagorski (Fanfare) “it evokes a sense of serene mystery and infinite beauty.” V. Rhein of Eighth Blackbird-Schwendinger (Chic Trib) “it evinced an acute sonic imagination and sure command of craft.” Tommasini (NYT) “The piece is darkly attractive, artful and moving…” and Fable, Buell (Bost Globe) “This was shrewd composing, the genuine article. Onto the ‘season's best’ list it goes.” Of her Albany CD, 3 Works, (12/1/12), (Fanfare) “This is ballsy, confident music making in both writing …immediately accessible and emotional. Highly recommended.” www.lauraschwendinger.com Composer of chamber, orchestral and vocal works.
https://artsandletters.org/pressrelease/2023opera/ https://www.sfcv.org/articles/music-news/artemisia-wins-academy-arts-and-letters-prize https://operawire.com/american-academy-of-arts-and-letters-announces-2023-awards/ https://captimes.com/news/education/uw-madison-professor-wins-prestigious-award-for-opera-composition/article_e54d913f-c072-5c0f-8953-1557f731caa2.html https://madison.com/entertainment/music/uw-madison-professor-laura-schwendinger-wins-national-opera-prize/article_65143caf-861d-5052-b178-7307fe76ca6b.html
Professional Composer Professor of Composition Artistic Director, Contemporary Chamber Ensemble University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music
Featuring MIRANDA CUCKSON and Due East, in works by Crumb and Schwendinger. A student and faculty ensemble presenting 2-3 concerts each year of music by a diverse array of mostly living composers. We have performed and hosted composers such as Kurt Rohde, Sebastian Currier, David Gompper, Olly Wilson, Sheila Silver, and Victoria Bond.
The first composer to win the Berlin Prize, Schwendinger has composed hundreds of concert works for chamber works and orchestra. Many of the leading artists of our day have premiere her work, the Arditti and JACK Quartets, Jennifer Koh, Janine Jansine, Dawn Upshaw the Liszt Chamber Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra. In addition she has won many of the most prestigious awards in her field, Guggenheim, Koussevitzky and Fromm Foundation fellowships, American Academy of Arts and Letters awards and many more.