The Columbia Orchestra

American Composer Competition
Past Winners

The winning work of the 2009 American Composer Competition was the Third Movement of Symphony No. 1 “Remembrance” by Albert Hurwit. The orchestra performed the work on December 5, 2009 with the composer in attendance.

The orchestra received 124 submissions from throughout the United States. In addition to the winning work, seven finalists were selected (listed in alphabetic order):

• Brian Fennelly: Reflections/Metamorphosis
• Anthony Iannaccone: Dancing on Vesuvius
• Mark Lackey: Convergence
• Elizabeth Lim: Paranoia
• Justin Merritt: River of Blood
• Philip Rothman: Arc of Visibility
• David Schneider: Automation

Congratulations to Dr. Hurwit, the finalists, and all who entered the competition. We are extremely grateful for your participation!

Read more about the winning work and the competition in this Press Release.

About Albert Hurwit

The composing career of Albert Hurwit began relatively late in his life. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1931. After graduating from Harvard College and Tufts Medical School, he remained in Boston for four years of postgraduate radiology training. He returned to Hartford and practiced radiology until his retirement in 1986.

Through most of his life, Hurwit had been casually involved with music and composing in an unstructured manner. Since 1986 he has dedicated all of his energies to composing music. He has had no formal training, but has received informal mentoring form Robert Carl, Chairman of the Composition Department of the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, and Michael Lankester, the former Music Director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

In 1997 the Adaskin String Trio performed Hurwit’s “Adagio” at the University of Hartford. It was then expanded into an “Adagio for Orchestra,” which was performed later that year by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra with Michael Lankester conducting at the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts.

After three more years of self instruction, experimentation and musical exploration Hurwit began to compose a symphony. He completed the composition of Symphony No. 1 “Remembrance” in 2002.

On November 8, 9 and 10, 2002, Movement III of the symphony (electronic rendition) was choreographed by Peggy Lyman and performed by the Hartt School of Music Dancers at the Lincoln Theater of the University of Hartford.

On February 13 and 14, 2003, the third movement of this symphony was performed in a concert world premiere by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Edward Cumming at the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts.

In July of 2004, the symphony was recorded by the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra with Michael Lankester conducting. Hurwit spent eight days in Sofia and participated in the rehearsing, revisions, recording, mixing and finalizing process of the CD production. The CD of the symphony was released by MSR Classics in March of 2005, and it is being distributed by Albany Records.

The West Hartford Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Richard Chiarappa presented world premiere concert performance of the entire Symphony No.1 “Remembrance” on March 5, 2006.

The Results of Previous Competitions

2007

2005

2003