Dr Tonia Ko, Lecturer in Composition, has been awarded a prestigious commission from the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress.
Dr Tonia Ko (photo credit: Matt Dine)
Dr Ko has been awarded a commission from the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress to compose a concerto for NYC-based ensemble Contemporaneous.
From the foundation's website:
“Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949, was a champion of contemporary music. Throughout his distinguished career, he played a vital role in the creation of new works by commissioning such composers as Béla Bartók, Leonard Bernstein and Igor Stravinsky. He established the Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library in 1949 to continue his lifelong commitment to composers and new music. Applications for commissions are accepted annually.
The Koussevitzky Foundation has commissioned more than 500 works, created by some of the world’s most celebrated composers, which are an integral part of the Library’s unparalleled music collections. Among the commissions are examples of the composers’ most iconic works, including Bartók’s “Concerto for Orchestra”; Benjamin Britten’s opera “Peter Grimes”; Olivier Messiaen’s “Turangalîla-Symphonie”; and Arnold Schoenberg’s cantata “A Survivor from Warsaw.” The Library holds the composers’ original manuscripts of these works and other commissioned works.
The Koussevitzky commissioning program is designed primarily for established composers who have demonstrated considerable merit through their works and for orchestras and chamber groups that have a record of excellence in the performance of contemporary music. More information can be found at www.Koussevitzky.org.”
