2021 STATE CONFERENCE

COMMISSIONED COMPOSER COMPETITION

CHAIRPERSON: Julia Lam (composercommission@njmta.com)

Every year, the NJMTA commissions a living composer to create original compositions for piano students to learn and perform in a competition. A performance of these pieces by the winners, chosen by the composer, is held in November at the NJMTA Conference to promote interest in new music by living composers.

2021 Commissioned Composer: Ke-Chia Chen

(scroll down for info on Ke-Chia Chen)

WINNERS

Eagle Call (ELEMENTARY)

CAROUSEL (intermediate)

Montage (Advanced)

Ke-Chia Chen's compositions have been performed throughout the United States and abroad. She has collaborated with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra on several projects including orchestrating music for their 2015 Papal Mass and 69th UN General Assembly session performances. 

Commission highlights include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Taiwan Philharmonic, Network for New Music, and Taipei Percussion. 

Chen's acclaimed Broken Crystal, an Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Marilyn K. Glick Young Composer Award winner, recently received its Asian premiere by the Taiwan Philharmonic. Her The Silent Flame was awarded first prize in the 2016 International Horn Society Composition Contest. 

Artist-in-residencies include the Copland House Residency Award, Ucross Foundation, Ensemble 212, Concerts on the Slope, Colorado College Summer Music Festival and Music at Angel Fire Chamber Music Festival, along with composer fellowships at the Aspen, Pacific, and Bowdoin Music Festivals. 

Chen's artistic focus draws from Western and Asian classical traditions. Her unique awareness and bold personal touch highlight the essence of her compositional process. 

Ke-Chia Chen is on the Musical Studies faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music. She holds degrees from the Curtis Institute, Manhattan School of Music, and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Visit www.kechiachen.com for more information.

2021 Repertoire

(To view a sample of each piece, click on the title.)

PIANO SOLO:

Elementary: Eagle Call
Intermediate: Carousel
Advanced: Montage

DUO for FLUTE & PIANO:

Sky Dance

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