 | | Roger Bourland
COMPOSERRoger Bourland (b. Dec. 13, 1952, Evanston, Illinois) received his education from the University of Wisconsin/Madison (B.Mus),the New England Conservatory of Music (M.M.), and Harvard University (A.M., Ph.D.). His teachers have included Leon Kirchner, Gunther Schuller, Donald Martino, John Harbison, and Randall Thompson. He received the Koussevitzky Prize in Composition at Tanglewood, the John Knowles Paine Fellowship at Harvard, two ASCAP Grants to Young Composers, numerous Meet the Composers grants, and was a co-founder of the Boston-based consortium "Composers in Red Sneakers." Bourland has composed over one hundred works for all media: solo, instrumental, chamber, vocal and choral music, electro-acoustic music, and music for orchestra, which are published by E.C. Schirmer Music/Boston and Associated Music Publishers, Inc., and recorded on Northeastern Records, 1750 Arch, OpenLoop, and GM Recordings.
As a film composer, he has scored "The Wolf at the Door" (1987, CBS/Fox Videocassettes), "The Trouble with Dick" (1986, Academy Video), "Night Life" (1988, RCA/Columbia Videocassettes), and James Merrill's "Voices from Sandover" (1990). In 1991 he scored a 13-part radio series for National Public Radio entitled "Poets in Person," and received his second National Endowment for the Arts grant for a CD of saxophone music. Since 1992,Bourland has received commissions for three full-length cantatas ("Hidden Legacies," "Flashpoint/Stonewall," [both with librettist John Hall], and "Letters to the Future") from five GALA Choruses which have been performed throughout America. Two documentaries were created and televised on the impact of "Hidden Legacies" on gay men's choruses. In 1993, Bourland established Yelton Rhodes Music, a publishing house for choral music. In 1994, he was commissioned to compose "Ozma" in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra. "Rosarium a drama for chorus" a 2 hour work for chorus, soloists, and orchestra with a libretto by William MacDuff, was premiered in 1999 at UCLA's Royce Hall. In 2000, Bourlnad and MacDuff fulfilled a commission for the US Navy's choral ensemble, The Sea Chanters entitled "Keeping the Ocean Free" in honor of their 45th anniversary which received its premiere on June 2001 in Washington D.C.. In 2001, Bourland's "Four Painters," scored for piano quartet, was premiered bythe Los Angeles Chamber ensemble, Pacific Serenades. For the post 9/11 2001-2 concert season, Bourland and MacDuff composed "The Crocodile's Christmas Ball and other odd tales" which was premiered by the UCLA Wind Ensemble and Chorale with the composer conducting.
For the 2004-5 concert season, Bourland will have four new works premiered: "The Night Train" commissioned by the St Matthews Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Neenan, conductor, a new film entitled "Cages" directed by Graham Streeter, a new song cycle to be premiered by Juliana Gondek (May 2005) entitled "Four Apartsongs", and an arrangement of Mozart's "Trauermusik" for wind ensemble, to be performed by the UCLA Wind Ensemble, Thomas E. Lee, conductor. He has also received commissions for two new works: Vox Femina/LA ("Alarcon Madrigals, Book 3"), and the Boston Gay Men's Chorus (new work for chorus and piano).
At UCLA, Dr. Bourland is a Professor and the Chair of the Composition program in the Department of Music where he has taught since 1983. He teaches Composition, Music Theory, Orchestration, Electronic music, and other courses in the curriculum. As an administrator at UCLA, Bourland has served as the Chair of the Committee on Committees (1997-98, and 2001 - 2003), the Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee in the Arts (5 yrs), and is currently the President of the UCLA Faculty Center.
Roger Bourland's website: http://rogerbourland.com/ |
