拉里Bitensky

传记

拉里Bitensky is W. George Matton Professor of 音乐 at Centre where he teaches composition, 音乐理论, 音乐才能, 世界音乐. He was named a Centre Scholar in 2012 and has served as chair of the music program. 

Known for music described as “extraordinarily sensitive and beautiful” and “speaking directly to the heart,” composer and pianist Bitensky has been hailed for works that are satisfying for performers and communicative to audiences. With their emotional intensity, 直率, lyrical and sinuous melodies, 和时髦的, polyrhythmic grooves, his works range from wistfully nostalgic, 非常难过, 和令人回味的, 来的, 好玩的, 和狂喜. 

Educated at Skidmore College, the New England Conservatory of 音乐, 伊萨卡学院, and Cornell University, Bitensky’s musical personality is rooted in a range of influences. He often seeks to merge the complex structures and expressive range of the classical masters and the innovations of the 20th-century greats with the melodic and rhythmic invention and improvisatory flow of musical traditions from India, 印尼, the Islamic and Jewish worlds, 爵士乐, and the Grateful Dead. His travels as part of the College’s study abroad program have also allowed him to explore the musical cultures of Morocco, 西班牙, 火鸡, 和巴厘岛. 

Bitensky first came to national and international attention with a series of works inspired by Jewish musical tradition and culture. 在这些, he developed a free, quasi-improvisatory lyricism and melodic richness that has become one of his signatures. These works include the award-winning Mishb’rey Yam, a song cycle based on Hebrew texts of the great medieval poet Yehudah Halevi; “…a perfect rest,” an orchestral rhapsody based on the traditional Jewish memorial chant; Awake, 你睡眠!, a concerto for trumpet and wind ensemble based on the sounds of the shofar; and 狂喜, a piano work based on Chasidic folk melodies. 

He has also received attention for works based on his long association with world-renowned trumpeter Vince DiMartino. These include Awake, 你睡眠! described as “one of the finest additions to the trumpet and wind ensemble repertoire to date;” the polyrhythmic, 爵士乐-infused “From those beginning notes of yearning,” for trumpet and piano; and the comic and macabre The Other Side, for trumpet and chamber ensemble. 

A pianist since the age of six, Bitensky’s music is rooted in his sense of what is gratifying for a performer. He regularly returns to the piano as a source of renewal, and he has made numerous contributions to contemporary piano literature. These include the brooding and melancholy The Alchemy of Solitude, the colorful and varied From the Corner Room, the poetic Scent of the World We Gave Up, 狂喜, Shouts and Murmurs, 和其他人. 

Bitensky’s works have been recognized by numerous foundations and institutions: the Fromm Foundation, the Omaha Symphony, the New England Philharmonic, the Saint Mary’s University Kaplan Commissioning Project, the Big Ten Band Commission, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the Columbia Orchestra, 杰贝兹新闻, the ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Award, the Kentucky Arts Council, the 音乐 Teachers National Association, the Kentucky 音乐 Teachers Association, the American 音乐 Center, the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation, the Friends and Enemies of New 音乐, the International Trumpet Guild, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the Modern Chamber Players, the Harrid Conservatory, the Society of Composers, 公司., Duquesne University New 音乐 Ensemble, 整体X, and the ASCAP Foundation Young Composers Competition. 

Recorded on Mark Records and Sea Breeze Vista records, Bitensky’s music has been performed by numerous ensembles and at various festivals around North America, 欧洲, 和亚洲. His music is published by Silly Black Dog 音乐.