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Merritt receives prestigious composing award

By Linnae Stole '10
November 18, 2008

It has been a whirlwind fall for Assistant Professor in Music Theory and Composition Justin Merritt. Fresh on the heels of his selection to the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, where he received rave reviews for his work River of Blood, he has been chosen for the 2008 Aaron Copland Award residency.

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Merritt
The Copland Award Residency program annually selects a handful of composers (typically six to eight) to spend up to two months working by themselves at the restored home of famed American composer Aaron Copland in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York. The secluded, wooded setting of the house and grounds, which Copland noted as "my hideaway, my solitude," now provides a tranquil opportunity for composers to work uninterrupted and free from the demands of daily life. During each individual's stay, the Copland House provides everything, from meals to housekeeping services to local transportation, along with any other needs they might have.

Merritt, who was one of nine composers chosen from a field of more than 100, plans to spend three weeks at the Copland house in the summer of 2009. He looks forward to the opportunity the residency will offer him in terms of musical growth. "The great benefit of being there is having time and calm to compose in a beautiful, inspiring setting," he says. "They will take care of everything, and my only duty is to write and think."

Merritt, who received his B.M. from Trinity College and his M.M. and D.M. from Indiana University, is a frequent performer in St. Olaf recitals, and he has also gained national recognition among music circles in recent years. In 2000 he was the youngest composer ever to receive the ASCAP Foundation/Rudolph Nissim Award for his work Janus Mask for Orchestra. Other honors include the 2006 Polyphonos Prize, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Composition Competition Award, and Kuttner String Quartet Competition. This fall Merritt was selected for the Minnesota Orchestra Composers Institute, which culminated in the premiere of his work River of Blood.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.