Renowned composer Daniel Asia is coming to Chattanooga for a series of free performances and lectures in early November. In this interview, we discuss the ways Judaism inspires and informs his compositions, his use of Paul Pines poems as lyrics, and a Huffington post article he wrote that caused a stir in the classical music world.
From a media release:
Breath in a Ram’s Horn: Composer Daniel Asia in Residence at UT Chattanooga
The renowned American composer Daniel Asia will be in residence at UT Chattanooga, Sunday through Tuesday, November 1st through 3rd. The public is invited to three events during the residency, including:
· Breath in a Ram’s Horn: the Jewish Spirit in Classical Music, on Sunday November 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Cadek Recital Hall, including ‘live’ performances; free admission;
· Aesthetics, Beauty, and Music, a lecture by Mr. Asia, on Monday, Nov. 2 at 5:30 p.m. in Roland Hayes Concert Hall, with a reception to follow in the lobby; free admission;
· The Music of Daniel Asia, a concert on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Roland Hayes Concert Hall. Following the concert will be an opportunity to talk with the composer about his music. Admission is free.
Mr. Asia will also make a presentation to students on “The Act of Composing,” Monday, Nov. 2 at 1:00 p.m. in room 210 of the Fine Arts Center.
For more information, contact Dr. Jonathan McNair at (423) 425-4679 or e-mail Jonathan-McNair@utc.edu, or visit www.utc.edu/music.
Daniel Asia’s residency at UTC is presented through a multi-department collaboration including the Chair of Excellence in Judaic Studies (Dr. Irven Resnick), the Honors College, the departments of Theater, Art, Philosophy, and Music, and coordinated by the Ruth S. Holmberg Professor of American Music (Dr. Jonathan McNair). Additional funding for these events is provided by a ThinkAchieve Grant through UTC.
Daniel Asia, born in 1953 in Seattle, Washington, is one of a small number of composers who have traversed both the realms of professional performance and academia with equal skill. As testament to this he is a 2010 recipient of a major American Academy of Arts and Letters award. Elliott Hurwitt writes in a Schwann Opus review of the composer’s music, “Daniel Asia is a genuine creative spirit, an excellent composer... He is a welcome addition to the roster of our strongest group of living composers.”
He has been the recipient of the most important grants and fellowships in music including a Meet The Composer/ Reader's Digest Consortium Commission, United Kingdom Fulbright Arts Award Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, four NEA Composers Grants, and several others. From 1991-1994, Mr. Asia was the Composer-in-Residence with the Phoenix Symphony.
Mr. Asia’s music has been commissioned, performed and recorded by prominent orchestras and soloists around the USA and in Europe, and New Zealand. His music is recorded on the Summit, New World, Albany, Babel, Innova, and Mushkatweek labels featuring artists as diverse as New Zealand Symphony, Pilsen Philharmonic (release pending), American Brass Quintet, Dorian Wind Quintet, and Cypress String Quartet, among others.
A graduate of Hampshire College and the Yale School of Music, Mr. Asia is presently Professor of Composition, and head of the Composition Department, at The University of Arizona, Tucson. Mr. Asia’s music is published by Theodore Presser Co., and he is represented by Stanton Consulting & Management of Astoria, New York. Married to Carolee Asia, Mr. Asia and his wife are the parents of three children.