Ithaca College

The Ithaca College Chamber Orchestra awarded Diego Vega first place in the 2010-2011 Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition.  Vega, a well-known and active Columbian composer, was selected from more than 100 composer applicants from across North America.  The jury consisted of Dana Wilson, Richard Faria, Jorge Grossman, Steven Stucky and Jeffery Meyer.  Composers submitted three scores and recordings, and a resume.  The winning composer was asked to write a new work for the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra.

Jeffery Meyer (Director of Orchestras) began the competition to encourage new music for chamber orchestra.  From his extensive work with chamber orchestras in both Russia and the United States, he began to see need to encourage the creation of new and exciting works for this compact orchestra format.  The competition gives Ithaca College students the important opportunity to work with a living composer and the formative challenge of confronting a never-performed work in rehearsal and performance.  

The following composers made it to the Finalist round:

Alford, Travis
Ha, Moon
Arrell, Chris
Meier, Evan
Honstein, Robert (Honorable Mention  Award)
Van Brink, Matt
Barnett, Michael
Silverman, Adam
McManus, Andrew
Shen, Yiwen
Joyce, Molly
Foumai, Michael
Dempster, Tom
Hass, Jeffrey
Hough, Matthew

Composers submitted three sample works and a resume, and the winning composer has been invited to write a new work for the Wednesday, May 4, 2011 Ithaca College Chamber Orchestra performance, to be held in Ford Hall at 8:15pm. The program includes Jeffery Meyer, conductor and Nathan Hess, piano and features the music of Beethoven, Mozart, and a World Premiere by Diego Vega.  In addition to the world premiere performance, Vega will receive a prize of $1000, up to $500 in travel funding, and up to $200 for hotel costs for two nights.

Diego Vega is one of the most active and performed Colombian composers. His music has been performed in some of the most important concert halls in the United States, Europe and Latin America by ensembles such as the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Eighth Blackbird, Ensemble X, Alea III, the Colombian National Symphony, the Bogotá Philharmonic, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame de Paris, the Quintet of the Americas, the Soli Chamber Ensemble, and internationally acclaimed soloists like pianist Stephen Prutsman, clarinetist José Franch-Ballester, cellist Andrés Díaz, and flutist Bradley Garner, among others. Diego has written commissioned works for the Colombian National Symphony, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, the Cornell Symphony and the Cornell Chorus, and the Salvi Foundation and the Cartagena International Music Festival. Vega has also been awarded the National Prize of Music in Composition in 2004, the Ensemble X composition competition in 2004, Alea III 20th anniversary prize in 2002, one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the Year in 1996 in Colombia, and prestigious scholarships such as Fulbright and the Sage Fellowship at Cornell University.  Vega holds degrees from Cornell University (DMA), University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (MM), and Universidad Javeriana (BM) in Bogota, Colombia, and has been part of the theory and composition faculty at Syracuse University and Universidad Javeriana.

For more information about the ICCO, please visit: https://www.ithaca.edu/music/ensembles/chamberorchestra/

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation should contact the School of Music at 607-274-3717 of the Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance at either 607-274-3909 or eoc@ithaca.edu.