ALBA MUSIC FESTIVAL COMPOSITION PROGRAM
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The Composition Faculty

2021 COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE

Pierre Jalbert
Anthony Green

Anthony R. Green

The creative output of Anthony R. Green (composer, performer, social justice; he/him/his) includes musical and visual creations, interpretations of original, contemporary, and repertoire works, collaborations, educational outreach, and more. Behind all his artistic endeavors are the ideals of equality and freedom. His compositions and projects have been presented in 25+ countries by various internationally acclaimed soloists and ensembles such as Stephen Drury (piano), Julian Otis (voice and movement), Ashleigh Gordon (viola), Ifetayo Ali-Landing (cello), Ensemble Dal Diente, and the American Composers Orchestra (George Manahan, conductor), in venues such as Jordan Hall (Boston), Symphony Space (New York), Tivoli Vredenburg (Utrecht), Le Gesù (Montréal), Cité de la musique et de la danse (Strasbourg), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), and Cadogan Hall (London) to name a few. A McKnight Visiting Composer, Green has received numerous fellowships, grants, awards, and residencies, including at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. As a performer specializing in piano, experimental voice, and performance, Green has presented projects and performances over 10 countries across 4 continents. As an educator, Green has taught classes for various summer festivals, given lectures as an invited artist at dozens of institutions internationally, and has lectured at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Hartford, and the Berlin University of the Arts. Green’s most important social justice work has been with Castle of our Skins: celebrating Black Artistry through Music.

2021 GUEST FACULTY

Pierre Jalbert
Giacomo Platini

Giacomo Platini

After been awarded the diploma on piano at the Conservatorio “G. Verdi” in Turin, and completing his studies at the Accademia Internazionale di Musica in Novara (Italy), Giacomo Platini studied composition with Ivan Fedele at the Conservatorio “G. Verdi” in Como (Italy) and at the Conservatoire National de Région in Strasbourg (France). He attended Masterclasses held by Niccolò Castiglioni, Gyorgy Ligeti, Betsy Jolas, Magnus Lindberg and Michael Jarrell. He was selected by the I.R.C.A.M. (Paris) to attend the Stage of Computer Music, and courses of the “Académie d’Été”. His compositions have been performed at the Cité Internationale Universitaire of Paris, at the Théatre Des Lisières and Italian Cultural Institute of Strasbourg, at the Chartreuse de Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, at the Museum of Art of Lugano (Switzerland), at the Centro para la Difusión de la Música Contemporánea of Madrid, at the “MILANO MUSICA” Festival in Milan, at blurred edges 2016 – Festival für aktuelle Musik Hamburg, at the MUSICAHORA Festival of La Serena (Cile), at the Sala Mozart in Bologna – ‘Città Europee della Cultura 2000’ -, PianoCity Milano, in New York for the exhibition “Pellizza da Volpedo e i divisionisti piemontesi” (Guggenheim Museum) and at the Jack Space of Brooklyn, in China (PRC) at the Electronic Music Week of Shanghai 2011 & the 6° Chamber Music Festival of Beijīng, and at the Alba Music Festival. His music has been performed by musicians such as Mario Caroli, Françoise Kubler, Zorina Valeria, Carlo Boccadoro, Henri-Michel Garzia, Eliza Garth, Jeff Silberschlag, Orchestra Filarmonica di Stato della Romania, l’Orchestra Filarminica Italiana (OFI), Quartetto d’Archi di Torino, Ensemble In Extremis, Ensemble Accroche Note, Ensemble de Musique Interactive, Mdi ensemble, the Ensemble Vocal “Contraste”, the Antidogma Ensemble, SENTIERI SELVAGGI, il New Made Ensemble.
He is one of the founders of the PRISMA project, an international group of composers which works on computer-aided composition and new axes in musical research. He is member of SYNTONO project in Paris and boarding member of “The Villa of Composer”, international project for the promotion and preservation of contemporary music. He is teacher of composition and C.A.C. (computer assisted composition) at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montbéliard (France) and at the IUP – Université de Franche-Comté of Montbéliard, département PSM – Musique et Son pour le Multimédia – (Master 1 and Master 2). He has given speeches and hold courses by prestigious institutions such as the Sibelius Akademy in Helsinky, the Italian Cultural Institute in Ljubljana (for the ISCM WOLRD MUSIC DAYS), the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris, the Centro Studi Acustica Informatica Musica – AGON in Milan, the Conservatory of Music of Shanghai and the Universities of Hefei and Anqing (China – PRC), the St Mary’s College of Music in Alba (Italy).
In 2017 he was a member of the jury of the 8th edition of the prestigious “Concours International de Composition Henri Dutilleux”.

Pierre Jalbert
Enrico Merlin

Enrico Merlin (Musicology, Jazz Studies)

Enrico Merlin is one of those unusual cases of an accomplished musician and composer who is at the same time an acclaimed expert on the subject of 20th century music. These two worlds which rarely come together in a single person, have infused the artist with an exceptionally creative and expressive performing talent and at the same time have inspired numerous successful literary publications. As a musician he has played on more than 35 different recordings alongside artists such as Steven Bernstein, Giorgio Gaslini, Michael Manring, Markus Stockhausen, the Rova Saxophone Quartet, to name but a few, and has also performed at numerous international Music Festivals together with artists such as Carla Bley, Mederic Collignon, Garrison Fewell, Paolo Fresu, Mark Baldwin Harris, Lee Konitz, Boris Savoldelli, Maria Schneider, Giovanni Sollima, Elliott Sharp, John Surman, Steve Swallow, Henry Threadgill, Tino Tracanna, and many more besides. He also writes music for the theatre and for documentaries and promotes, together with Andrea Brunello, an innovative form of interaction between words and sounds which they call "Jazz Teatrale" (Theatre Jazz). At the Fringe Festival of Edinburgh in 2013, Enrico performed for an entire month in the show "The Principle of Uncertainty". In 2015 he was elected one of the 10 best Italian guitar players by Jazzit Magazine readers. On the musicology front, Enrico has an undisputed worldwide reputation as one of the most important experts on the music of Miles Davis. His comprehensive and painstakingly detailed catalogue of released and unreleased works, parts of which have been published both in written and in multimedia form (first and foremost the DVD «A Different Kind of Blue – Miles Davis at Isle of Wight», Eagle Vision), led to his nomination back in the 90's by Gordon Meltzer (Davis' last producer) as the official discographer for the milesdavis.com website. In November 2012, he published a new book "1000 dischi per un secolo. 1900-2000", (960 pages, Il Saggiatore) dedicated to the history of Western Music seen through the evolution of recording techniques and the innovation in musical languages. Enrico holds regular seminars and workshops in many of the most important music schools and italian conservatories and in 2014 he became a member of the prestigious teaching staff of the Nuoro Jazz Seminars. He has also been the artistic director of the NonSoleJazz Festival (now known as TrentinoinJazz) from 2003 through 2016

Pierre Jalbert
Alex Lubet

Alex Lubet (Composition, Improvisation)

Alex Lubet, Morse Alumni/Graduate & Professional Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music, is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and researcher, who joined the School of Music faculty in 1979. While he was written works in many media, his creative output in this millennium has focused almost exclusively on works featuring his own performance, mostly on a variety of plucked string instruments associated with American folk traditions. These include acoustic guitar, mountain dulcimer, National steel guitar, and ukulele. He performs solo and with groups including the Japanese-inspired Ensemble Ma, Deep State, with pianist and fellow School of Music faculty member Guerino Mazzola, and One World, with Kurdish-Canadian kamanche (spike fiddle) player, Shahriyar Jamshidi. In addition to his own works, many composers have written works for Lubet, in particular composers from China, where he was lectured, taught, and concertized live and on television. Of late, he has become particularly well-known for his unique approach to mountain dulcimer. Lubet is well-represented on recordings, as a soloist (Spectral Blues: New Music for Acoustic Guitar, Ravello), with Guerino Mazzola (Deep State, pfMENTUM) and with School of Music faculty guitarist Maja Radovanlija (The Enchanted Guitar Forest, Big Round). Upcoming releases include Negative Space: Katie Hae Leo, poet, with an ensemble co-led by Alex Lubet and Guerino Mazzola, Three Strings and the Truth:  New Music for Mountain Dulcimer:  Alex Lubet, dulcimer, with Iris Shiraishi, percussion, with works by Alex Lubet, Jay Afrisando, and Iris Shiraishi, and Subtle:  Alex Lubet, mountain dulcimer, and Guerino Mazzola, piano (all pFMENTUM releases). Noted critic Ted Gioia named Spectral Blues a “Best Album” of 2013. His works have received hundreds of performances on six continents and he has concertized in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. As a scholar, Lubet is widely acknowledged to have pioneered the field of disability studies in music. His writings include Music, Disability, and Society, the first solo-authored monograph in that field, and dozens of chapters and articles on disability issues within and beyond music. He is also known for his articles on Bob Dylan and other popular, jazz, and blues artists. His work appears in both scholarly and popular media, the latter including such media outlets as Newsweek, Salon.com, Associated Press, and San Francisco Chronicle. He regularly teaches courses in the U of M's Center for Bioethics. As a composition teacher, Lubet’s primary commitment is to enabling students to find their own voices, to become better versions of themselves. Thus, his students write in a great variety of styles and media, ranging from oratorios to sound installations. He fosters a strongly collegial environment in his culturally and gender diverse studio and endeavors to promote performances and readings of student works, including having premiered and performed their pieces in such locations as New York, Canada, China, and South Korea.

2021 RESIDENT FACULTY

Elliott Miles McKinley

Elliott Miles McKinley
BIOGRAPHY
Elliott Miles McKinley has had music performed in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Commissions include those from the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Society, the SOLI Chamber Music Ensemble, the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, the Martinů String Quartet, the Mirari Brass Quintet, and the Janaček Trio. The Minnesota Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, and the Czech Radio Symphony have performed his orchestral music, and his works have been featured in international festivals;  he is the recipient of a number of awards, grants, and fellowships including those from BMI, ASCAP, SCI, Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, the American Composers Forum, and Indiana University. McKinley earned degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, University of Michigan, and University of Minnesota. He has taught at the University of Tennessee, Washington and Lee University, and is currently Associate Professor of Music Composition, Theory, and Technology at Roger Williams University.

David Post

Peter Farmer
BIOGRAPHY
David Post was born in New York City and holds degrees from the University of Chicago, the New School for Social Research and Brandeis University. He started musical training early, studying ‘cello with Samuel Reiner and Charles Forbes and composition with Charles Whittenberg and later Ralph Shapey at the University of Chicago. He pursued further study with Larry Bell and Lukas Foss. His music has received wide exposure on radio and in the concert hall, and his Fourth String Quartet was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in music. His orchestral and chamber works have been played and recorded by international organizations including the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Moravian Philharmonic, the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and the Salem Philharmonic, among others.  He has received numerous commissions from groups and individuals, including the Aiolos Collective, the Terezin Music Foundation, the Martinu Quartet, the Fenimore Quartet, the Hawthorne String Quartet and many others. 

Mary Ellen Childs

Emily Koh
BIOGRAPHY
Mary Ellen Childs has been acclaimed for creating both rhythmic, exuberant instrumental works and bold, kinetic compositions that integrate music, dance and theater in fresh and unexpected ways. She writes for a variety of ensembles, including solo accordion, string quartets, chamber groups, and vocal groups. She has received commissions from the Kronos Quartet, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Opera America, the Dale Warland Singers, The Kitchen, the Walker Art Center, Other Minds, Live Music for Dance NY/NJ, Meet The Composer’s commissioning programs, and the MAP Fund. Over the last thirty years she has received numerous awards and fellowships, including a 2011 United States Artist Friends Fellowship, two Bush Foundation Fellowships, five McKnight Foundation Fellowships, a fellowship in support of her interdisciplinary work from Intermedia Arts, and eight Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Awards. Childs has received support from the NEA’s Composer-in-Residence program, Meet The Composer, and the American Composers Forum (Jerome Commissioning awards), a Creative Explorations award from Creative Capital.

J Anthony Allen

Joseph Dangerfield
BIOGRAPHY
J Anthony Allen J. Anthony Allen is a creator of things. Sometimes they’re related to music, but not always. He uses his background as a composer to inform whatever he sets his mind to creating, whether it’s music for an orchestra, a business, an app, a new electronic instrument, or ideas for his next composition (ask him about sailing the Arctic in nonstop sunlight). He’s written music for almost any medium you can imagine, from film and the Minnesota Orchestra to TV, radio, and video games. (More on that later.) As a creator, he wants to push forward with a purpose. He’s all about challenging the exclusivity of concert music, of music education, of composition. He founded Slam Academy in 2011 in Minneapolis because he wanted to make electronic music education accessible and affordable. To a similar end, he wrote a book called Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers. In his compositions, he draws on developments in diverse musical communities. Allen is all about connecting the dots, and using one area of his expertise to inform another.

Program Staff

Assistant Director (TBD)


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Alba Music Festival Composition Program 

Chinese ​中文版
US Postal Address:
Alba Music Festival Composition Program
c/o Dr. Elliott Miles McKinley
Associate Professor of Music Composition, Theory, and Technology
Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences
Roger Williams University
One Old Ferry Rd.
Bristol, RI 02809
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  • Home
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  • About
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    • Electronic Music Mini-Camp
    • About Alba
    • The 2022 Program >
      • 2022 Photo Gallery
      • The 2022 Fellows
      • The 2022 Alba Commission
    • The 2021 Program >
      • 2021 Photo Gallery
      • The 2021 Fellows
      • The 2021 Performers
      • The 2021 Alba Commission
    • The 2020 Program >
      • The 2020 Alba Commission
    • The 2019 Program >
      • 2019 Photo Gallery
      • The 2019 Fellows
      • The 2019 Performers
      • The 2019 Alba Commission
    • The 2018 Program >
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      • The 2018 Fellows
      • The 2018 Performers
      • The 2018 Alba Commission
    • The 2017 Program >
      • 2017 Photo Gallery
      • The 2017 Fellows
      • 2017 Performers
      • 2017 Alba Commission
    • The 2016 Program >
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      • The 2016 Fellows
  • Apply
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