Christopher Trapani

Christopher Trapani
Born1980
New Orleans[1]
Occupation(s)Composer, guitarist[2]
Known forContemporary classical music
Websitechristophertrapani.com

Christopher Trapani is an American/Italian composer of contemporary classical music. In 2007 he won the Gaudeamus Award of the Dutch Gaudeamus Foundation. A CD of his music, Waterlines, was released in 2018.[3] A second release of Waterlines by the Ictus Ensemble was named one of the top 5 classical releases of 2020 by De Standaard.[4] In 2021–2022 he was a visiting assistant professor at the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California.[5]

Reception

In 2007 Trapani won the Gaudeamus Award for young contemporary composers[6] for his composition Sparrow Episodes, for ensemble with solo electric guitar, which was performed in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam by the Asko Ensemble under Étienne Siebens, with Trapani on guitar.[7] In September 2008, his commissioned piece Üsküdar was performed in the same hall by the Nieuw Ensemble.[8]

His composition Rust and Stardust was performed during the Tectonics Festival in Glasgow in 2015; the Guardian reviewer found it "accomplished and dreary",[9] while The Scotsman spoke of "kaleidoscopic explosions that ... gave structure and shape to its insistently concise material".[10]

Also in 2015, Trapani was among the recipients of a Charles Ives Scholarship for promising students from the American Academy of Arts and Letters,[11] and received a commission from Chamber Music America.[12] In 2016 he was among the winners of a Rome Prize of the American Academy in Rome, receiving the Luciano Berio award for his work Recording Islands, Transcribing Mosaics.[13]

In 2018 the Koussevitzky Foundation of the Library of Congress commissioned him to write a work for the Spektral Quartet.[14] In 2019 he received both a Guggenheim Fellowship[15] and a commission from the Fromm Music Foundation of Harvard University.[16] In 2020, Trapani was awarded the Barlow Prize.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Christopher Trapani", Columbia Music Department: Alumni. Accessed August 2018.
  2. ^ Anthony Tommasini (5 December 2010). "On the Express Train to Hell and Other Sonic Journeys". The New York Times. Accessed August 2018.
  3. ^ "New Focus Recordings website". Accessed 8 November 2019.
  4. ^ "De keuze van Anna Vermeulen", De Standaard, 12 December 2020. Accessed 10 December 2020. (subscription required)
  5. ^ "USC Thornton Welcomes New Faculty". USC Thornton School of Music. Archived 3 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Christopher Trapani Wins Gaudeamus Prize, First American in Over 30 Years", NewMusicBox, New Music USA, 12 September 2007.
  7. ^ "Christopher Trapani Wins Gaudeamus Prize 2007". Gaudeamus Foundation. Archived 13 November 2007.
  8. ^ "Programma Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2008" (in Dutch). Muziek Centrum Nederland. Archived 13 September 2008.
  9. ^ Kate Molleson (4 May 2015). "Tectonics review – classical meets abstract sound-art in fruitful festival collision". The Guardian. Accessed August 2018.
  10. ^ Kenneth Walton (4 May 2015). "Classical Review: Tectonics Glasgow". The Scotsman. Accessed August 2018.
  11. ^ "2015 Music Awards Winners". American Academy of Arts and Letters. Accessed August 2018.
  12. ^ "Chamber Music America 2015 commissions".
  13. ^ "American Academy in Rome Announces 2016–2017 Rome Prize Winners & Italian Fellows". American Academy in Rome. Accessed August 2018.
  14. ^ "Library's Koussevitzky Foundation Announces 2018 Commission Winners". Accessed October 2018.
  15. ^ "John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Fellowships Awards In The United States And Canada" Accessed 10 April 2019.
  16. ^ "Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University". Accessed 8 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Barlow Foundation website". Accessed 10 December 2020.