Paul Elwood
Encyclopedia
Paul Iserman Elwood is a composer and banjo
player. He received his B.M.E. at Wichita State University
, his M.M. in composition from Southern Methodist University
, and his Ph.D. in composition from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He served on the faculty at Brevard College
in North Carolina
where he taught composition, music theory and sight singing. In the fall of 1998 he was the Southern Regional Visiting Composer at the American Academy in Rome
. He is currently a professor at the University of Northern Colorado
, Greeley, Colorado
.
The music of Paul Elwood often incorporates his background as a folk musician and experimentalist on the five-string banjo with that of his voice as a composer who loves the processes and syntax of contemporary writing. Residencies he has received include the American Academy in Rome as Southern Regional Visiting Composer, the Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, MacDowell Colony
, Djerassi Artists Residence Program, Ucross Foundation
, Camargo Foundation (France), Fundación Valparaíso
(Spain), and the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos
.
In 2000 he was awarded the Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies Inter-American Music Award for Vigils for solo piano, and was featured as a composer and performer in Moscow
, Mexico City
, Marseille
, Wollongong
, Edinburgh
, Darmstadt
, and across the United States. As a composer his music has been performed by the symphonies of North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
, and Wichita
, and by the Callithumpian Consort of the New England Conservatory, Zeitgeist, pianist Stephen Drury
, Tambuco
(the Mexican Percussion Quartet), and pipa
players Min Xiaofen and Gao Hong
, among others.
As a performer he won the Kansas
State Banjo Championship, worked with guitarist Eugene Chadbourne
, cellist Hank Roberts
, French saxophonist Raphael Imbert, Andrew Bishop’s Hank Williams Project, Electric Cowboy Cacophony, and bluegrass
legend John Hartford
, performed live on MTV Europe
, and played percussion in a number of orchestras. His music is published by C.F. Peters
and Smith Publications. Elwood’s teachers were J.C. Combs, percussion, and composers Donald Erb
, David Felder, Walter Mays, Arthur S. Wolff, and Charles Wuorinen
.
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
player. He received his B.M.E. at Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
, his M.M. in composition from Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
, and his Ph.D. in composition from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He served on the faculty at Brevard College
Brevard College
Brevard College is a small, private, United Methodist, liberal arts college in Brevard, North Carolina. The college currently grants the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, or Bachelor of Music degree...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
where he taught composition, music theory and sight singing. In the fall of 1998 he was the Southern Regional Visiting Composer at the American Academy in Rome
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome.- History :In 1893, a group of American architects, painters and sculptors met regularly while planning the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
. He is currently a professor at the University of Northern Colorado
University of Northern Colorado
-Organization:The University of Northern Colorado offers 100 undergraduate programs and more than 100 graduate programs. The university has a satellite campus in Denver, Colorado...
, Greeley, Colorado
Greeley, Colorado
The City of Greeley is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Weld County, Colorado, United States. Greeley is located in the region known as Northern Colorado. Greeley is situated north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to the...
.
The music of Paul Elwood often incorporates his background as a folk musician and experimentalist on the five-string banjo with that of his voice as a composer who loves the processes and syntax of contemporary writing. Residencies he has received include the American Academy in Rome as Southern Regional Visiting Composer, the Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, Djerassi Artists Residence Program, Ucross Foundation
Ucross Foundation
The Ucross Foundation, located in Ucross, Wyoming, is a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers and choreographers working in all creative disciplines.-History:...
, Camargo Foundation (France), Fundación Valparaíso
Fundación Valparaíso
Fundación Valparaíso is an international arts residency organization located on the Mediterranean coast of Andalucia, Spain, in the old Moorish hilltown of Mojacar....
(Spain), and the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
.
In 2000 he was awarded the Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies Inter-American Music Award for Vigils for solo piano, and was featured as a composer and performer in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, Wollongong
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, and across the United States. As a composer his music has been performed by the symphonies of North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, and Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, and by the Callithumpian Consort of the New England Conservatory, Zeitgeist, pianist Stephen Drury
Stephen Drury
Stephen Drury is an American pianist, conductor and electronic musician.Drury has performed and recorded a range of compositions by classical and contemporary composers including Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives, John Cage, Frederic Rzewski, and John Zorn...
, Tambuco
Tambuco
Tambuco is a Mexican contemporary classical percussion group which has been nominated three times for awards including Best Classical Album. It was founded in 1993. The group consists of four percussionists: Ricardo Gallardo, Alfredo Bringas, Raúl Tudón and Miguel González...
(the Mexican Percussion Quartet), and pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
players Min Xiaofen and Gao Hong
Gao Hong
Gao Hong is a composer and performer of the Chinese pipa .Gao has lived in the United States since 1994. She performs traditional and modern Chinese music, with her groups Spirit of Nature and Beijing Trio...
, among others.
As a performer he won the Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
State Banjo Championship, worked with guitarist Eugene Chadbourne
Eugene Chadbourne
Eugene Chadbourne is an American improvisor, guitarist and banjoist. Highly eclectic and unconventional, Chadbourne's most formative influence is free jazz. He has also been a reviewer for Allmusic and a contributor to Maximum RocknRoll.Chadbourne started out playing rock and roll guitar, but...
, cellist Hank Roberts
Hank Roberts
Hank Roberts is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant garde, folk and classical influences...
, French saxophonist Raphael Imbert, Andrew Bishop’s Hank Williams Project, Electric Cowboy Cacophony, and bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
legend John Hartford
John Hartford
John Cowan Hartford was an American folk, country and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore...
, performed live on MTV Europe
MTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
, and played percussion in a number of orchestras. His music is published by C.F. Peters
Edition Peters
Edition Peters, also known as C.F.Peters Musikverlag, is a German music publishing house, founded in Leipzig in 1800.From the 1860s it was largely run by members the Hinrichsen family, who were Jewish. The company was confiscated by the Nazis and administered by the "Trustee of Jewish Property"....
and Smith Publications. Elwood’s teachers were J.C. Combs, percussion, and composers Donald Erb
Donald Erb
Donald Erb was an American composer best known for large orchestral works such as Concerto for Brass and Orchestra and Ritual Observances.-Early years:...
, David Felder, Walter Mays, Arthur S. Wolff, and Charles Wuorinen
Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen is a prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. His catalog of more than 250 compositions includes works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, as well as solo instrumental and vocal works...
.
List of works
- Over Looking Glass Falls (2006), orchestra, premiered February, 2007 by the North Carolina SymphonyNorth Carolina SymphonyThe North Carolina Symphony is an American orchestra based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with sixty-nine full time musicians. The orchestra performs in Meymandi Concert Hall and performs occasionally with the Carolina Ballet and the The Opera Company of North Carolina. In 2007, the organization...
. The concert was broadcast by WCPE-FMWCPE-FM- WCPE affiliates:Portions of WCPE's programming can also be heard on these stations:Kansas* KBTL 88.1 El Dorado - variousIllinois* WLNX 88.9 FM Lincoln - 24 hoursMichigan* WCHW-FM 91.3 FM Bay CityM-F, 7 p.m...
on July 2, 2007. - Psalm Eight (2005), mixed chorus (SATB), King James text.
- Winter Fires (2005), women's chorus (SAA), Text by David St. JohnDavid St. John-Biography:Born in Fresno, California, he was educated at California State University, Fresno, where he studied with poet Philip Levine, and at the University of Iowa, receiving an M.F.A. in 1974...
. - Hymn (2005), women's chorus (SAA), Text by Jack KerouacJack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
. - In the Middle (2005), mixed chorus (SATB), Text by Paul Elwood.
- Capricious Apparitions for 2 violas and bowed banjo (2009)