The Phi Mu Alpha Composition Contest features a $5,000 grand prize, the premiere of the winning work at the 2015 National Convention, and a publishing contract to the winning entrant. And now, Sinfonia is excited to announce the judges for this competition, each a prominent figure in American music:
Brother Adler’s mark on American music stretches into nearly every realm of music. His catalog includes over 400 published works in all types of instrumentation, including five operas, six symphonies, numerous string quartets, concerti, and several shorter works for orchestra or choir. He has conducted the world over, and founded and conducted the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra while serving in the United States Army from 1950 to 1952. His contributions also include several acclaimed books and articles on conducting, composition, and orchestration. Following military service, Brother Adler conducted the Dallas Lyric Theater (1954-1958), served as Professor of Composition at the University of North Texas College of Music (1957-1966), Professor of Composition at the Eastman School of Music (1966-1995), and since 1997 has been on the composition faculty at Julliard.
Samuel Adler
Gamma Theta (North Texas) 1960
Carlisle Floyd
Epsilon Iota (Florida State) 1957
Brother Floyd is one of the most admired and widely performed opera composers and librettists of the last century. He is credited with helping to create an American idiom in opera. Carlisle’s most popular work, Susannah, has become one of the most performed American operas in history. His other popular works include Of Mice and Men, based on the John Steinbeck novel of the same name, and Cold Sassy Tree, his most recent work, written in 2000. Among numerous prominent distinctions, Brother Floyd has been honored with The Citation of Merit by the National Association of American Conductors and Composers, the National Opera Institute’s Award for Service to American Opera, induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the White House National Medal of Arts, and the Fraternity’s own prestigious Man of Music award. He has also been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts as an honoree for lifetime contribution.
Brother Lockhart became the 20th conductor of the Boston Pops in 1995. He has worked with a wide array of established artists from virtually every corner of the entertainment world. During his 17-year tenure, he has conducted more than 1,400 Boston Pops concerts. Audiences worldwide love Keith’s inimitable style, expressed not only through his consummate music-making, but also by his unique ability to speak directly to the audience about the music to which he feels so passionately committed. Currently, Brother Lockhart serves as principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in London. In addition, he is artistic director of the Brevard Music Center summer institute and festival in North Carolina. He has appeared with virtually every major symphonic ensemble in North America, as well as several in Asia and Europe.
Keith Lockhart
Gamma Eta (Furman University) 1978
