THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY PRESENTS ITS ANNUAL MERRIMAN-ROSS FAMILY YOUNG COMPOSERS WORKSHOP CONCERT
SEATTLE SYMPHONY MUSICIANS TO PERFORM 10 NEW WORKS BY LOCAL STUDENT COMPOSERS AT BENAROYA HALL ON JUNE 13
Seattle, WA — The Seattle Symphony is pleased to present the annual Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop concert on Monday, June 13, at 7pm in the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall. This concert is free to attend and marks the Seattle Symphony’s 29th successful Young Composers Workshop. Each year, the program supports local students’ development as budding composers with a 12-week composition course that concludes with Seattle Symphony musicians performing the participating students’ original compositions at Benaroya Hall. The 2021/2022 concert is conducted by Douglas F. King Associate Conductor Lee Mills, and features new works from 10 students as well as brief commentary from both the students and this year’s Workshop Director Angelique Poteat. This concert features new works by the following young composers: Luca Millard-Kish, August Baik, Jeanne Park, Nathan Paek, Nicholas Chesemore, Elisa Kain Johnson, Max Vance, Mia Chen, Brannon Warn-Johnston, and Kevin Nam.
The Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop has a long history involving many prestigious names in music composition, giving students access to exceptional expertise in this field of music. The program began in 1992 under the direction of Rebecca & Jack Benaroya Conductor Laureate Gerard Schwarz who was the Music Director of the Seattle Symphony from 1985 to 2011, and former Composer in Residence Bright Sheng. It was originally named in honor of David Diamond, one of America’s greatest composers and the Symphony’s longtime Honorary Composer in Residence.
The 2021/2022 workshop was led under the supervision of Poteat, a widely acclaimed composer and clarinetist who is also a Seattle Symphony Young Composer Workshop alumna and the 2022/2023 Artist in Residence. As Workshop Director, Poteat collaborated with Seattle Symphony musicians to guide young composers through the composition process and oversee additional learning opportunities from guest composers and artists.
Tickets to this concert are free and can be reserved on the concert webpage. The Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop is a program directed by the Seattle Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement department. The Seattle Symphony welcomes youths ages 18 years and younger to apply and work on all aspects of composing, including writing themes, learning instrumentation and orchestration, and preparing a final score with parts for a string quartet, woodwind quartet or Pierrot ensemble.
Health And Safety
The Seattle Symphony is requiring all visitors to provide proof of vaccination (or present a negative COVID-19 test) with photo ID, and wear masks at all times while in Benaroya Hall, except in designated refreshment areas. This is in addition to numerous other safety measures, including a hospital-grade air filtration system, increased cleaning and more. For additional information about how the Symphony is working to ensure a safe experience at Benaroya Hall, please visit the Safety Page. The Seattle Symphony also continues to implement a flexible exchange and return policy through the end of the season and has increased its online viewing options on its streaming platform, Seattle Symphony Live.
LEE MILLS | CONDUCTOR
Douglas F. King Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony and winner of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award in 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021, Lee Mills is internationally recognized as a passionate, multifaceted and energetic conductor. In his previous position as Resident Conductor of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, he led performances hailed as having a “sonority of unequalled liveliness and quality” (movimento.com), working alongside such artists as Simone Porter, Conrad Tao, Eliane Coelho and the Smetana Trio. Mills has also previously led the National Symphony Orchestra (U.S.), Los Angeles Philharmonic, São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, through his project Vibe Sinfônica, in partnership with nightlife producer The Week Group in São Paulo, Mills has brought classical music to thousands of new listeners.
In March 2022, Mills was selected to be the New Artist of the Month in Musical America. The League of American Orchestras selected Mills for the 2018 Bruno Walter National Conductors Preview, and in 2017, Mills was selected as a semifinalist in both the Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition and the Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liège International Opera Conducting Competition. Mills received the BSO-Peabody Institute Conducting Fellowship in 2011. He was a conducting fellow at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen during the summers of 2012 and 2013. He received his Graduate Performance Diploma and Artist’s Diploma in Orchestral Conducting at the Peabody Institute and graduated from Whitman College.
ANGELIQUE POTEAT | COMPOSER
Angelique Poteat is from the Pacific Northwest. Her music has been recorded and performed in Australia, Germany, Lithuania, Hungary, Japan, Italy, Norway, and all over the United States by ensembles including the Seattle Symphony, Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, Saratoga Orchestra, Woodlands Symphony Orchestra, North Corner Chamber Orchestra, CernaBella and the Enso Quartet. Some notable performances include Beyond Much Difference (2014), a piece commissioned and performed by the Seattle Symphony at their January 2015 Sonic Evolution concert with Mike McCready, Chris Cornell, and members of the bands Pearl Jam, Sound Garden and more.
Poteat is the recipient of the 2015 American Prize in Composition for Beyond Much Difference, as well as grants from Seattle 4Culture, Artist Trust, and the Allied Arts Foundation. She is also a 2015 CityArtist from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and the 2018 Composer-in-Residence for the New Music on the Rock Festival. She recently completed a work for Arx Percussion Duo and is currently working on a clarinet quintet for Seattle Symphony clarinetist Laura DeLuca. Poteat is the Director of the Seattle Symphony Merriman-Ross Young Composers Workshop.
Poteat earned the degrees Bachelor of Music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Master of Music from the College-Conservatory of Music. She has studied composition with Samuel Adler, Joel Hoffman, Mara Helmuth, Anthony Brandt, Pierre Jalbert, Shih-Hui Chen, Arthur Gottschalk and Samuel Jones. Many of her works are influenced by the natural world around her, often returning to the ocean and Puget Sound area.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY
The Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 27 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 750,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts, and through the Seattle Symphony Live streaming service, the orchestra’s concerts reach audiences at home and around the world.
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YOUNG COMPOSERS WORKSHOP CONCERT
Monday, June 13, at 7pm
Lee Mills conductor
Jeffrey Barker flute
Eric Jacobs clarinet
Jeffrey Fair horn
David Gordon trumpet
Alexander White trumpet
Ko-ichiro Yamamoto trombone
John DiCesare tuba
Rob Tucker percussion
Li-Tan Hsu piano
Mikhail Shmidt violin
Stephen Bryant violin
Mara Gearman viola
Eric Han cello
Will Langlie-Miletich double bass
Luca Millard-Kish Momentum
August Baik Sori
Jeanne Park Storms in Spring
Nathan Paek Gooseberry Jam
Nicholas Chesemore Ricochet
Elisa Kain Johnson Lost Without You
Max Vance A Time to Rise
Mia Chen Faint Alpenglow
Brannon Warn-Johnston Dirge from an Imagined World
Kevin Nam Ancient Processions
Sponsorships:
Lee Mills’ position is generously underwritten as the Douglas F. King Associate Conductor.
Gerard Schwarz’s position is generously underwritten as the Rebecca & Jack Benaroya Conductor Laureate.
Jeffrey Fair’s position is generously underwritten as the Charles Simonyi Principal Horn.
David Gordon’s position is generously underwritten as the Boeing Company Principal Trumpet.
The Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop is generously underwritten by Pamela Merriman, Sonja Ross, and Kelley Ross.
Additional support for The Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop is provided by Patricia M. Davis, along with Michel and Christine Suignard.
The Seattle Symphony’s Family, School & Community programs are supported by 4Culture, Arakawa Foundation, Marco Argenti, The Klorfine Foundation, Merriman-Ross Family, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Maryanne Tagney, the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation and individual contributions to the Seattle Symphony Annual Fund.