LOCAL COMPOSER WINS ASCAP AWARD

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Stan Funicelli

The winners of the annual Nissim Foundation Competition have been announced. Among the winners this year is local composer Stan Funicelli, who received a special distinction award for Tides, a 20-minute-long setting of Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach for contralto, antiphonal brass, organ and orchestra. The work was commissioned by the University of Florida.

The Nissim competition is named for Dr. Rudolf Nissim, former head of ASCAP’s international department and a strong proponent of contemporary music. Nissim established the prize through a bequest to the ASCAP Foundation. The competition is open to works requiring a conductor by writer members of ASCAP. This year there were more than 250 entries.

A panel of three judges presided over the competition: Nicholas DeMaison, artistic director of Ensemble Sospeso and music director of Florilegium Chamber Choir in New York; Ryan McAdams, guest conductor and former music director of the New York Youth Symphony; and Diane Wittry, music director of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania and artistic director of the International Cultural Exchange Program with the Sarajevo Philharmonic in Bosnia.

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About Edward Reichel

Edward Reichel, author, writer and composer, has been covering the classical music scene in Utah since 1997. For many years he served as the primary music critic for the Deseret News. He has also written for a number of publications, including Chamber Music Magazine, OPERA Magazine, 15 Bytes, Park City Magazine and Salt Lake Magazine. He holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He can be reached at ed.reichel@gmail.com. Reichel Recommends is also on Twitter @ReichelArts.

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