CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE the Preparation Of

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE The Preparation of Commissioned Works for the National Flute Association’s Young Artist and High School Young Artist Competitions A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Music in Performance By Charlotte Betry May 2016 The Thesis of Charlotte Betry is approved: ___________________________________ _______________ Professor Heather Clark Date ___________________________________ _______________ Dr. Ric Alviso Date ___________________________________ _______________ Dr. Lawrence Stoffel, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my mother and father for their endless love and support. Without their guidance and encouragement this degree would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Heather Clark, Sandy Kipp Iles, and Dr. Stoffel for their mentorship during my time at Cal State Northridge. iii Table of Contents Signature Page ii Dedication iii Abstract v Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: The History of the National Flute Association’s Commissioned Works 3 Chapter 3: The Preparation of New Music Versus Standard Repertoire 6 Chapter 4: An Analysis of A Robot for a Friend 14 Chapter 5: Response to the Interviews 20 Chapter 6: Conclusion 22 Works Cited 24 Appendix A: List of Commissioned Works for NFA Young Artist 25 Appendix B: List of Commissioned Works for NFA High School Young Artist 26 Appendix C: Title Page of Interview and Participant Disclaimer 27 Appendix D: Performer Interview Questions 28 Appendix E: Composer Interview Questions 30 Appendix F: Interviews 32 Appendix G: Recital Program 52 iv Abstract The Preparation of Commissioned Works for the National Flute Association’s Young Artist and High School Young Artist Competitions By Charlotte Betry Master of Music in Performance This thesis will explore the research and preparation needing to be done by a performer in order to successfully perform a newly commissioned work specifically through the National Flute Association’s Young Artist and High School Young Artist Competitions. Through the analysis of the pieces, comparing and contrasting the evolution of the commissioned works, and through interviews with both past competitors and composers I will seek to establish a successful method towards preparing a piece that has yet been revealed to the world for critique and standardization. v The primary form of preparation throughout will focus on Liam Viney’s five-step process in properly preparing contemporary music for performance. The composition, A Robot for a Friend, will be the primary source of analysis from the commissioned works of the National Flute Association. Interviews with a past performer of the composition and the composer are included as primary sources within the text. Lastly, the success of using these steps will be discussed through the preparation and performance of Eric Ewazen’s Sonata No. 1 for Flute and Piano—a commission premiered at the National Flute Association’s 2010 convention in Charlotte, North Carolina—for the purposes of my graduate flute recital at California State University, Northridge. vi Chapter 1: Introduction The National Flute Association, founded in 1972, is an organization of both amateur and professional flutists throughout the world. With over 4,000 members from all fifty states as well as fifty countries, the National Flute Association (NFA) is the largest organization in the world centering around the performance, teaching, and continuation of the flute and its repertoire. The NFA offers many benefits to its members including a subscription to the The Flutist Quarterly (a quarterly magazine produced by the organization), full access to the largest lending library of flute music in the world, and the opportunity to attend an annual four-day convention consisting of masterclasses, seminars, competitions, concerts, and more. The NFA’s mission to preserve the history of the flute and its repertoire, as well as propel the instrument into the modern world of music, is perhaps best seen by the number of commissioned works the association premieres at each annual convention. The first commissioned work in 1986 was for the Young Artist Competition and has since been expanded to be a part of the High School Soloist Competition (1989), Piccolo Artist Competition (2004) and other special projects (1987). The NFA continues to promote new music through the New Music Advisory Committee and is continually seeking to find new ways to enhance the growing repertoire. While some of these commissions take on a more traditional role within the repertoire, many of the commissions within the last decade seek to expand the musician in as many ways as possible as will be seen through the research and observations of some of these commissioned works. The performer interview subjects consist of two past Young Artist Competition winners, one of which was also a finalist in the High School 1 Young Artist Competition. The composer interview subjects consist of one Young Artist Competition commission and two High School Competition commissions. The composition analyzed, A Robot for a Friend, was chosen based on the available interview subjects; the first interview with Ryan Carter (the composer of this commissioned composition) and the second with Ramakrishnan Kumaran (a participant in the 2014 High School Young Artist competition in which the commission was premiered). 2 Chapter 2: The History of the National Flute Association’s Commissioned Works The National Flute Association’s New Music Committee was formed in 1985 with the vision of enhancing the flute repertoire through newly commissioned works on a regular basis. What begin in 1986 with the first annual commissioned work for the semifinal round of the Young Artist Competition has flourished into over 70 commissioned works to date. These works include not only music commissioned towards the Young Artist Competition but also later to the High School Young Artist Competition (1989), the Piccolo Artist Competition (2004) and the Special Projects (1987) commissions.1 Following the organization’s desire to commission works that enhance the musical repertoire, the NFA has worked alongside three international woodwind associations to expand the woodwind quintet repertoire. In keeping with the national trend in establishing partnerships for major commissions, the latest development in our commissioning process has been to take the lead in a new woodwind quintet project with our “sister” organizations, the International Horn Society, the International Double Reed Society, and the International Clarinet Association. In a vigorous process by representatives of all four organizations, composer Lansing McLoskey was selected, and his piece will be premiered at the 2012 conventions of each participating association.2 Through this collaboration the New Music Committee was able to expand its goal of enhancing the flute repertoire from simply solo works into the realm of chamber music. The selection of composers for each Young Artist and High School Young Artist competition is through a nomination process by the chair of the New Music Committee and then a voting process by the remaining members of the board. The composers nominated often range in experience from emerging artists with few publications to winners of the Pulitzer Prize, the Prix de Rome, the Naumberg Competition, and the John 1 “The New Music Advisory Committee.” The National Flute Association. 2016. 2 Paul Taub, “Living History: The National Flute Association Commissioning Program,” The Flutist Quarterly XXXVII, No. 2 (Winter 2012): 66-67. 3 Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Music Composition Fellowship. Once a composer is chosen for each competition a point person is assigned to help them through the commissioning process.3 The NFA, however, stresses the importance of allowing a composer full reign in achieving musical ideas for each commission with little input from the committee themselves. Robert Dick, the first committee chair for the New Music Committee recalls the concerns of Mario Davidovsky an early commissioned composer: When I offered Davidovsky the commission, he was both pleased and leery. ‘I need to write music,’ he declared, concerned that an organization of performers would want a readily ‘accessible,’ conventionally tuneful piece. It took quite a bit of reassurance on my part to convince him that the commission was for the piece he chose to write, with no aesthetic controls or limits. Aside from instrumentation and length, the NFA has never attempted to tell any of our commissioned composers what to write-and that‘s how it should be.4 Dick continues that it is for this reason that the NFA has had a great deal of success “in having good music created for us.”5 With composers being given the ability to write at their discretion and with the competitive setting creating a platform that disregards difficulty, the commissioned compositions from both competitions have proven to be exceptionally challenging. The NFA through its commissioning projects have not only worked to expand the modern day flute repertoire but have also in the process challenged the musicians and their abilities through the demanding nature of these commissioned works. The National Flute Association uses the commissioned work for each of their competitions (Young Artist, High School Young Artist, and Piccolo Artist) during the semifinal round. Competitors submit a recording for the first round after which fifteen

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