Joshua Fineberg
Encyclopedia
Joshua Fineberg is an American
composer
of contemporary classical music
.
and France
, including: George Crumb
, Jacob Druckman
, Robert Hall Lewis, Philippe Manoury
, and André Boucourechliev
. In 1991, he moved to Paris
and studied with Tristan Murail
. The following year he was selected by the Ensemble InterContemporain
reading panel for the course in composition and musical technologies. In the Fall of 1997, he returned to the US to pursue a doctorate in musical composition at Columbia University
, which he completed in May 1999. After teaching at Columbia for a year, he went to Harvard University
where he served as the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humainities until 2007. In 2007 he joined the faculty of the Boston University School of Music and became the director of their electronic music studio.
He has collaborated with IRCAM
as a lecturer for seminars and as compositional coordinator for their 1996 four week summer course. Besides his compositional and pedagogical activities, he has collaborated with computer scientists
and music psychologists
to develop tools for computer assisted composition and in music perception
research. He has worked with performing ensembles as Artistic Director for recordings of many European ensembles and soloists, and during the 1999–2000 season directed both Speculum Musicae
and the Columbia Sinfonietta. Fineberg edited two issues of The Contemporary Music Review on "Spectral Music
" (Vol. 19 pt. 2 & 3). In 2003, he became the US editor of the Contemporary Music Review.
Fineberg’s works include Receuil de Pierre et de sable for two harps and ensemble (commissioned by Radio France
and premiered by Continuum), Veils (commissioned by Thomas Kelly
and premiered by Robert Levin
), and Shards (commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation and premiered by The New Millennium Ensemble). He worked on an evening-length modern dance/theatre piece with the Belgian
choreographer Johanne Saunier and founding member of the Wooster Group Jim Clayburgh
based on Nabokov
’s Lolita
.
A monographic CD of his music, recorded by Ensemble Court-Circuit, was released in September 2002 by Universal/Accord in their Una Corda collection with the coproduction of MFA
and IRCAM
. His works have been performed, commissioned and recorded by leading ensembles and soloists in Europe
, Asia
and the United States
In 1992, his work for large orchestra ORIGINS was selected by the international jury of the Gaudeamus foundation as a finalist for the Gaudeamus International Composers Award
and was premiered by the Radio Symfonie Orkest of the N.O.S. during the 1992 Gaudeamus Music Week.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
.
Biography
Joshua Fineberg was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He began his musical studies at the age of five. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Peabody Conservatory with Morris Cotel where he won first prize in the bi-annual Virginia Carty de Lillo Composition Competition.Music career
He has worked with many leading composers in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, including: George Crumb
George Crumb
George Crumb is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres, alternative forms of notation, and extended instrumental and vocal techniques. Examples include seagull effect for the cello , metallic vibrato for the piano George Crumb (born...
, Jacob Druckman
Jacob Druckman
Jacob Druckman was an American composer born in Philadelphia. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1950 he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood and later continued his studies at the École Normale de...
, Robert Hall Lewis, Philippe Manoury
Philippe Manoury
Philippe Manoury is a French composer.-Biography:Philippe Manoury was born in Tulle. His first composition studies were at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, with Gérard Condé and Max Deutsch. He continued his studies from 1974 to 1978 at the Conservatoire de Paris with Michel Philippot, Ivo...
, and André Boucourechliev
André Boucourechliev
André Boucourechliev was a French composer of Bulgarian origin.Born in Sofia, Boucourechliev studied piano at the Conservatory there. Subsequently he studied in Paris at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, where he later taught piano...
. In 1991, he moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and studied with Tristan Murail
Tristan Murail
Tristan Murail is a French composer. His father, Gérard Murail, is a poet and his mother, Marie-Thérèse Barrois, a journalist. One of his brothers, Lorris Murail, and his younger sister Elvire Murail, aka Moka, also write, and his younger sister Marie-Aude Murail is a French children's writer...
. The following year he was selected by the Ensemble InterContemporain
Ensemble InterContemporain
The Ensemble InterContemporain is a French chamber orchestra, based in Paris at the Cité de la musique and IRCAM, which specialises in contemporary classical music....
reading panel for the course in composition and musical technologies. In the Fall of 1997, he returned to the US to pursue a doctorate in musical composition at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, which he completed in May 1999. After teaching at Columbia for a year, he went to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
where he served as the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humainities until 2007. In 2007 he joined the faculty of the Boston University School of Music and became the director of their electronic music studio.
He has collaborated with IRCAM
IRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
as a lecturer for seminars and as compositional coordinator for their 1996 four week summer course. Besides his compositional and pedagogical activities, he has collaborated with computer scientists
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and music psychologists
Music psychology
Music psychology,or the psychology of music, may be regarded as a branch of psychology or a branch of musicology. It aims to explain and understand musical behavior and musical experience...
to develop tools for computer assisted composition and in music perception
Music cognition
Music cognition is an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the mental processes that support musical behaviors, including perception, comprehension, memory, attention, and performance...
research. He has worked with performing ensembles as Artistic Director for recordings of many European ensembles and soloists, and during the 1999–2000 season directed both Speculum Musicae
Speculum Musicae
Speculum Musicae is an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. It was founded in New York City in 1971 and is particularly noted for its performances of the music of Elliott Carter...
and the Columbia Sinfonietta. Fineberg edited two issues of The Contemporary Music Review on "Spectral Music
Spectral music
Spectral music is a musical composition practice where compositional decisions are often informed by the analysis of sound spectra. Computer-based sound spectrum analysis using tools like DFT, FFT, and spectrograms...
" (Vol. 19 pt. 2 & 3). In 2003, he became the US editor of the Contemporary Music Review.
Fineberg’s works include Receuil de Pierre et de sable for two harps and ensemble (commissioned by Radio France
Radio France
Radio France is a French public service radio broadcaster.-Mission:Radio France's two principal missions are:* To create and expand the programming on all of their stations; and...
and premiered by Continuum), Veils (commissioned by Thomas Kelly
Thomas Kelly
-Public officials and political activists:*Thomas Kelly , Conservative from Prince Edward Island*Thomas J. Kelly , leader in Irish Republican Brotherhood, came to America in 1851 and served on Union side in Civil War*Thomas Kelly , , one of Sinn Féin founding members who represented Dublin...
and premiered by Robert Levin
Robert D. Levin
Robert D. Levin is a classical performer, musicologist, and composer, and is the Artistic Director of the Sarasota Music Festival.-Education:...
), and Shards (commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation and premiered by The New Millennium Ensemble). He worked on an evening-length modern dance/theatre piece with the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
choreographer Johanne Saunier and founding member of the Wooster Group Jim Clayburgh
Jim Clayburgh
Jim Clayburgh is a founding member of The Wooster Group and serves as the group's resident designer.He is now living in Brussels where he founded Joji inc. with choreographer Johanne Saunier.-External links:*...
based on Nabokov
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
’s Lolita
Lolita
Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian...
.
A monographic CD of his music, recorded by Ensemble Court-Circuit, was released in September 2002 by Universal/Accord in their Una Corda collection with the coproduction of MFA
Music for America
Music for America was a political organization which used concert events and the social networks which surround bands and musical "scenes" as a way to promote progressive political values and participation among Millennial Generation Americans.-Foundation:...
and IRCAM
IRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
. His works have been performed, commissioned and recorded by leading ensembles and soloists in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Awards and critical acclaim
He has won various prizes, fellowships and scholarships including: ASCAP Foundation Grants to Young Composers Competition; Ars Electronica special jury mention; Rapoport Prize in Composition from University; Arnold Salop Composition Competition; the Palache Scholarship, a scholarship to study at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau; yearly ASCAP Awards from 1991 until he left ASCAP to join the French society SACEM in 1994; and the Randolph S. Rothschild Award in Composition.In 1992, his work for large orchestra ORIGINS was selected by the international jury of the Gaudeamus foundation as a finalist for the Gaudeamus International Composers Award
Gaudeamus International Composers Award
The Gaudeamus International Composers Award is a European award issued by the Music Center the Netherlands...
and was premiered by the Radio Symfonie Orkest of the N.O.S. during the 1992 Gaudeamus Music Week.
Further reading
- (2006). Classical Music, Why Bother?: Hearing the World of Contemporary Culture Through a Composer's Ears. Routledge. ISBN 0415971748, ISBN 978-0415971744.