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A photo of Jeffrey Mumford

Jeffrey Mumford

http://www.presser.com/Composers/info.cfm?Name=JEFFREYMUMFORD

Born in Washington, D.C. in 1955, composer Jeffrey Mumford has received numerous fellowships, grants, awards and commissions.

Mumford's most notable commissions include those from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, violinist Ole Bohn, the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt (Vienna), the Network for New Music, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a consortium of presenters consisting of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Chamber Music Columbus (OH.) and Omus Hirshbein (New York) (for the Pacifica Quartet and pianist Amy Briggs), Cleveland radio station WCLV, violist Wendy Richman, the Nancy Ruyle Dodge Charitable Trust (for the Corigliano Quartet), a consortium of presenters consisting of the Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.), Miller Theatre (New York) and the Schubert Club (St. Paul, MN.) (for pianist Margaret Kampmeier), the Contemporary Music Forum of Washington, D.C. and Philip Berlin, Sonia and Louis Rothschild (for the Opus 3 Trio), the Theatre Chamber Players, the Meet the Composer/Arts Endowment Commissioning Music/USA program (for the CORE Ensemble), the National Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati radio station WGUC, 'cellist Joshua Gordon, the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation , the Fromm Music Foundation, the Amphion Foundation (for the Da Capo Chamber Players), the New York New Music Ensemble, the McKim Fund in the Library of Congress, the Aspen Wind Quintet, and 'cellist Fred Sherry.

Mumford's works have been extensively performed both in the United States and abroad, including Paris' Theatre Dunois, Miller Theatre, the Library of Congress, the Aspen Music Festival, the Bang On A Can Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, San Migel de Allende (Guanajuato, Mexico), London's Purcell Room, Finland's prestigious Helsinki Festival, the Musica nel Nostro Tempo Festival, in Milan and the Musikverein in Vienna. His works have been performed by such major orchestras as the Cleveland Orchestra, the National, Detroit and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the American Composers' Orchestra. His chamber works have been performed by major ensembles such as the Pacifica, Corigliano, Maia and Borromeo Quartets, the Mann Duo, the CORE Ensemble, the Empyrean Ensemble, the Network for New Music, Imani Winds, the Amelia Piano Trio, the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Ensemble, Voices of Change, the New Music Consort, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Aspen Wind Quintet, the Group for Contemporary Music, the Da Capo Chamber Players. Among the prominent soloists who have performed his music have been violinists Ole Bohn and Lina Bahn, 'cellists Frances-Marie Uitti, Joshua Gordon and Fred Sherry, violist Misha Amory, Wendy Richman, and Eliesha Nelsona nd pianists Amy Dissanayake, Lura Johnson-Lee, Jenny Lin, Tuyen Tonnu Shannon Wettsein, Eliza Garth., Margaret Kampmeier and Sarah Cahill. Mumford is also a composer-member of the Washington, D.C. based Contemporary Music Forum, which has performed his music many times.

Recent and forthcoming performances include those by the VERGE Ensemble, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Imani Winds, the comfort of his voice, (a work commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King and which commemorates Severance Hall) by the Cleveland Orchestra, within a cloudburst of echoing brightness by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, verdant and shimmering air: four views of a reflected forest by the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, undiluted days (piano trio) VERGE Ensemble in Paris, a landscape of interior resonances (solo piano) by Jenny Lin, the promise of the far horizon by the Artis Quartett in Vienna, billowing pockets brightly layered by 'cellist Darrett Adkins and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and a celebration of Elliott (solo piano) by the Network for New Music in New York and Philadelphia. In addition, the CORE ensemble will also give several performances nationwide of a window of resonant light ('cello, piano, percussion) as part of their touring program entitled "Of Ebony Embers."

Mumford's music has also been presented as part of Miller Theatre's "Composer Portraits" series in New York City.

Current projects include a newly commissioned violin concerto by the Argento Chamber Ensemble and violinist Miranda Cuckson, a consortium commission for a set of piano pieces entitled of ringing and layered space for pianists Amy Briggs, Lura Johnson, Jenny Lin, Tuyen Tonnu and Shannon Wettstein, a newly commissioned work for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra entitled through dancing echoes spreading softly, as well as two commissioned works commemorating Elliott Carter's 100th birthday (including a celebration of Elliott for solo piano commissioned by the Network for new Music). Recent CDs featuring Mumford's works include. the promise of the far horizon, containing five recent chamber works was just issued on the Albany Records label (TROY 698) and "Telling Tales" (on Capstone Records and sponsored by the Cleveland Composers Guild) which includes pianist Tuyen Tonnu's performance of barbaglio dal manca.

In 2005 Mumford was selected for a residency with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra as part of the Meet-the Composer/American Symphony Orchestra League "Music Alive" program.

His a focused expanse of evolving experience (2003) (fl., vln., vla., vlc., piano) was selected for inclusion and performed as part of the 2005 NEO Show at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mumford was selected for a residency with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra as part of the Meet the Composer/American Symphony Orchestra League (now League of American Orchestras) "Music Alive" program. He was recently (2008) Composer-in-Residence at the Alba (Italy) Music Festival and the Chamber Music Conference and Composers Forum of the East (Bennington, VT). As well, his program notes (commissioned by the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood) for three works of Elliott Carter were published as part of a celebration of Mr. Carter's music.

Mr. Mumford is published by Theodore Presser Co. and Quicklight Music and represented by Carlson & Carlson Arts Contractors.

 

 

Awards and Recognitions

 

Awards include the "Academy Award in Music" from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, a Fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, a Fellowship to the Composers' Conference (Johnson, Vermont) and an ASCAP Aaron Copland Scholarship. He was also the winner of the inaugural National Black Arts Festival/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Composition Competition.

Other grants have been awarded by the Ohio Arts Council, Oberlin College, the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities (funded through the NEA), the Minnesota Composers' Forum, the American Music Center, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, Meet the Composer, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music Inc. , the ASCAP Foundation, and the University of California.

 

Catalog of Works by Jeffrey Mumford

Chamber Ensemble

  • a garden of flourishing paths - 2008 (Duration: 12 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2008 by VERGE Ensemble.

    •  

      a garden of flourishing paths was commissioned by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and the Contemporary Music Forum/VERGE Ensemble to celebrate the 100th birthday of the distinguished American composer Elliott Carter. This work would also not be possible without the generosity of Philip Berlin, Otho Eskin, and Nancy Dodge. Special thanks also to composer Steve Antosca, Artistic Advisor of the VERGE Ensemble and Stephen Ackert, Head of the Music Department of the National Gallery of Art, for their vision and support.

       

      The work is cast in eight short movements, each featuring a particular instrument or group of instruments.

       

      The title for me evokes the space for which it was written (the West Garden Court of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.). In addition, it refers to the expressive character of the developmental paths taken by the instruments in relation to one another.

       

      It has been my pleasure to have known Mr. Carter for many years since being a student of his during in the early 1980s.  I am pleased to add my small piece to the many that will be written to honor this marvelous creative artist.

       

  • in soft echoes . . . a world awaits - 2008 (Duration: 11 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2008 by Members of the Cleveland Orchestra: Emma Shook, vln., Eliesha Nelson, vla., Martha Baldwin, 'cello.

    •  

      My trio in soft echoes  . . .  a world awaits was commissioned by the Fortnightly Musical Club of Cleveland and was written for violinist Emma Shook, violist Eliesha Nelson and ‘cellist Martha Baldwin, who are members of the Cleveland Orchestra.

       

      Cast in fifteen short movements, it explores many timbral and articulative aspects of  this combination of instruments. The work expands from the opening movement’s Aflat/Bflat major second motive. Interspersed as part of the work’s ongoing development, are recurring and unfolding pizzicato movements marked Capricciosso.

       

      The title to me suggests the image of a world that results from the resonance of the reflected light within clouds.

       

  • toward the deepening stillness beyond visible light - 2004 (Duration: 12 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2004 by "University of Chicago Presents" Pacifica Quartet, Amy Briggs, piano.

    • toward the deepening stillness beyond visible light was commissioned by a consortium of presenters consisting of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Chamber Music Columbus (OH.), and Omus Hirshbein for the Pacifica Quartet and pianist Amy Dissanayake, and  is a celebration of the collective talents of these amazing performers.

       

      The title for me suggests layers and intensities of late afternoon and evening light as experienced through gradually receding clouds. Thus, in terms of its developmental scenario, the piece concerns itself with how these layers of shifting space (strings) interact with a more stable and resonant sound world (piano). Often the piano and strings reinforce one another but increasingly the piano's music establishes a personality of its own which eventually dissipates into the distance.

  • the promise of the far horizon - 2002 (Duration: 16 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2002 by Corigliano Quartet.

    • Recorded by the Çorigliano Quartet on ALBANY records (TROY 698)

  • undiluted days - 2000 (Duration: 11 min.)
  • a window of resonant light - 1997 (Duration: 14 min.)
    • Publisher: Theodore Presser Co.
    • Premiered in 1997 by CORE Ensemble.

    • Recorded by the CORE Ensemble on ALBANY Records (TROY 698)

  • in forests of evaporating dawns - 1996 (Duration: 18 min.)

Orchestral

  • . . . and symphonies of deepening light . . . expanding . . . ever cavernous - 2008 (Duration: 12 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2009 by Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.


    •  . . . and symphonies of deepening light . . . expanding . . . ever cavernous was commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Ann & Harry Santen on the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary. It is dedicated to them in celebration of their deep commitment to each other and with enormous gratitude for their steadfast commitment to new music and art.

       

      This work was also funded in part by the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center. Special thanks as well, to Ann and Harry Santen and an anonymous donor for assistance in the preparation of this score and parts.

      Review:


      The Cincinnati Symphony’s concert Friday night was as much for the eye as for the ear. Guest conductor James Gaffigan, associate conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, was articulate as he introduced the new music of the program’s first half, which also included a world premiere by Jeffrey Mumford. The evening concluded with a satisfying performance of Beethoven’s Symphony.

       A colorful orchestral canvas of a different kind opened the program. Mumford’s “…and symphonies of deepening light .. .      expanding .. . ever cavernous” was a pointillistic tapestry, built around a tone row which traveled throughout the orchestra.  Inspired by Impressionism, as well as by clouds and light, its textures were always clear and delicate. Although the music had complex harmonies, tone clusters and discernible motives, it sounded deceptively simple, as if floating aimlessly.

      The composer highlighted the piano prominently with glittering cadenzas worthy of a piano concerto, beautifully played by Michael Chertock. Mumford, who lives in Oberlin, was present to take a bow.

      Ann and Harry Santen of Indian Hill commissioned the piece in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary.


  • billowing pockets brightly layered - 2007 (Duration: 11 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2008 by Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Steven Smith, cond., Darrett Adkins, 'cello.

    •  

      billowing pockets brightly layered originally took as its point of departure, the enlargement of my solo ’cello work amid fleeting pockets of billowing radiance in 2000, developing ideas presented in the solo work but casting much of that material in the context of a continually changing instrumental fabric.

      It has subsequently been further revised and is in this version is dedicated to ‘cellist Darrett Adkins. 

       

  • verdant and shimmering air . . . four views of a reflected forest - 2007 (Duration: 8 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2007 by Milwaukee Youth Symphony.

    • Commissioned by the Milwaukee Youth Symphony in conjunction with a residency as part of the Meet the Composer/American Symphony Orchestra League (now League of American Orchestras) "Music Alive" program

  • the comfort of his voice - 2006 (Duration: 10 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2007 by Cleveland Orchestra, Chelsea Tipton II, cond..

    •  

      the comfort of his voice was commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra and is written in celebration of the legacy of Martin Luther King. It is additionally dedicated to Robert Conrad, President of Cleveland radio station WCLV-FM 104.9 and the architect Robert P. Madison, President of  Cleveland based Robert Madison International. It further celebrates Severance Hall as a beacon of civilized light in the community.

       

      The narrative flow of this piece should not be interpreted as a literal evocation of Dr. King’s life journey but rather, hopefully, seen as a synthesis of many elements from one person’s perspective. Certainly, his voice and deeds gave comfort to many of us during very complex times and among the most inspiring aspects of the comfort his voice gave me was the presumption of our collective intelligence, civilization and compassion.

       

  • a distance of unfolding light - 2000 (Duration: 14 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2004 by Western Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, John Gordon Ross, cond., James Dickenson, violin.

    • Commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation

  • within a cloudburst of echoing brightness - 1995 (Duration: 4 min.)
    • Publisher: Theodore Presser Co.
    • Premiered in 1995 by National Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, cond..
  • as the air softens in dusklight - 1994 (Duration: 9 min.)
    • Publisher: Theodore Presser Co.
    • Premiered in 1994 by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Yoel Levi, cond..

Solo Instrument

  • an expanding distance of multiple voices - 2005 (Duration: 13 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2005 by Lina Bahn, violin VERGE Ensemble.

    • an expanding distance of multiple voices  is a set of variations for solo violin celebrating the virtuosity and intelligence of violinist Lina Bahn. It was commissioned by a Washington, D.C based consortium consisting of Pamela Johnson, Kathryn Judd, Philip Berlin and Otho Eskin to whom I am tremendously grateful.

       

      In addition to celebrating her extraordinary talents, the work is also a celebration of her commitment to the music of our time both in a solo capacity and as a member of the Corigliano Quartet. With the members of the Corigliano Quartet. she has given tremendously insightful, passionate and knowing performances of quartets of many living composers,  including my own (as well as those of the past).

       

      Cast in five movements, the work displays many changes of mood, tempo and timbre. As is the case in my work for solo viola wending, much of the harmonic material is based on the letters of its dedicatee (in this case linA BAHn). Movements one and two and three and four are played together without pause.

       

      The title for me suggests a layered space suspended and vast, in which many sources and gradations of light radiate from the continually shifting pockets of its interior. 

       

  • the milliner's fancy - 2003 (Duration: 5 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2004 by Rhonda Taylor, alto saxophone.

    • Recorded by Rhonda Taylor on ALBANY Records (TROY 698)

Solo Keyboard

  • a celebration of Elliott - 2007 (Duration: 2 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2008 by Network for New Music "Ten for Carter" series, Stephen Gosling, piano.

    • Commissioned by the Network for New Music (Philadelphia)

  • a landscape of interior resonances - 2001 (Duration: 15 min.)
    • Publisher: Quicklight Music
    • Premiered in 2002 by Miller Theatre "Composer Portrait" series, Margaret Kampmeier, pianist.

    • Commissioned by a consortium of presenters: The Phillips Collection, (Washington, D.C.), Miller Theatre (New York) and the Schubert Club (St, Paul, MN)

  • barbaglio dal manca - 1981 (Duration: 10 min.)
    • Publisher: Theodore Presser Co.
    • Premiered in 1982 by original version: Barbro Dahlman, pianist, revised version: Tuyen Tonnu, pianist.

    • Revised version (2000) recorded by Tuyen Tonnu on Capstone Records in conjunction with the Cleveland Composer's Guild - "Telling Tales" (Capstone CPS 8736)

Events for Jeffrey Mumford