The Kronos Quartet is pleased to announce that composer Felipe Perez Santiago has been selected as the recipient of the second commission offered through the Kronos: Under 30 Project. More than 160 composers from 21 countries applied to the Project, which is a collaboration of the Kronos Quartet, Stanford Lively Arts at Stanford University and the American Music Center.
Perez Santiago, a Mexican-born composer working in Rotterdam, Holland, has been commissioned by Kronos and Stanford Lively Arts to write a new work, which will receive its world premiere at Stanford University in Stanford, California, on April 16, 2004. He will also be in residence with Kronos at Stanford University for a week in April, 2004.
Born in 1973, Perez Santiago has received degrees in Composition from the Centro de Investigacion y Estudios Musicales (CIEM) in Mexico and the Rotterdam Conservatory, where he also received a Master's in Electronic Music, supported by the National Funds for Culture and the Arts (FONCA) in Mexico. He has studied composition with Peter-Jan Wagemans and Klaas de Vries, and electronic music with Rene Uijlenhoet. He has been a Resident or Guest Composer at the Drzwi Otwarte (Doors Opened) Festival in Krakow, Poland; the Centre de Creation Musicale Iannis Xenakis (CCMIX) in Paris, France; the Studio for Electroinstrumental Music (STEIM) in Amsterdam, Holland; and the Centrum voor Elektronische Muziek (CEM) in Amsterdam.
"I am very excited about working with the Kronos Quartet--it is a great opportunity. Their vision of modern music has been a big influence on me, as it has for a whole generation of composers, and they are certainly one of the leading voices in new forms of musical expression," says Perez Santiago.
Kronos' founder and Artistic Director David Harrington says, "The Kronos: Under 30 Project / #2 has been a very lively exploration of many exciting composers previously unknown to us. Felipe Perez Santiago was our unanimous choice. We find the vitality of his music combined with its commanding expressive palette and enormous emotional drama to be thrilling. Kronos is very excited to begin our work with Felipe Perez Santiago and we can't wait to perform his new piece."
"Stanford Lively Arts has been a partner with Kronos in building audiences for new music for over 15 years and we are especially thrilled to support young composers through the Under 30 Project," says Lively Arts Executive Director, Lois Wagner.
The Kronos Quartet is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. To acknowledge this benchmark, Kronos created the Kronos: Under 30 Project, a commissioning and composer-in-residence program for composers under 30 years of age. The program will support the creation of new work by young artists, and will help Kronos cultivate stronger connections with young composers in order to develop lasting artistic relationships with the next creative generation.
The first composer to be commissioned through the Kronos: Under 30 Project was Indiana University junior Alexandra du Bois, whose work titled Oculus Pro Oculo Totum Orbem Terrae Caecat received its premiere at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College on April 5, 2003. It has been performed several times since then, and is scheduled for additional performances by the Kronos Quartet during the 2003-2004 season at such venues as the Ravinia Festival, Chicago, and the Theatre de la Ville, Paris.
The new work by Perez Santiago is being commissioned as part of the Kronos: Under 30 Project / #2 for the Kronos Quartet by Stanford Lively Arts/Stanford University; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Board of Directors of the Kronos Performing Arts Association on the occasion of Kronos' 30th anniversary. Additional support for the Project is provided by the American Music Center.
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