Christopher Cerrone Explained

Christopher Cerrone (born March 5, 1984) is an American composer based in New York City. He was a 2014 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize,^[1] a 2014 Fromm Foundation commission recipient,^[2] a 2015 Rome Prize winner in Music Composition,^[3] and has received numerous awards from ASCAP.^{[4] [5] [6]}

Biography

Cerrone was born in Huntington, New York, United States. He studied music composition at the Manhattan School of Music with Nils Vigeland and Reiko Fueting,^[7] and then earned his Masters and Doctoral degrees at Yale studying with Martin Bresnick, David Lang, Christopher Theofanidis, Ingram Marshall, and Ezra Laderman.^[8]

In 2014 Cerrone's opera Invisible Cities based on Italo Calvino's novel Invisible Cities was produced by the Los Angeles-based opera company The Industry, the LA Dance Project, and Sennheiser. The production received glowing reviews and had a sold-out run of performances.^{[9] [10] [11]} Cerrone has received commissions from ensembles including eighth blackbird,^[12] the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Present Music,^[13] and he has been the Composer-in-Residence with the Albany Symphony Orchestra,^[14] and with Exploring the Metropolis/ConEdison.^[15]

Cerrone was a founding member and co-Artistic Director of Red Light New Music^{[16] [17]} and currently a member of the composers' collective Sleeping Giant, consisting of Timo Andres, Christopher Cerrone, Jacob Cooper, Ted Hearne, Robert Honstein, and Andrew Norman.^{[18] [19]}

His works are published by Project Schott New York^[20] and Schott Music.^[21]

Selected works

Opera

• In a Grove (2022) for four singers (SCtTB), nine instruments, and electronics^[22]
• Invisible Cities (2009–2013) for four solo voices, chamber choir, chamber orchestra, and electronics
• All Wounds Bleed (2011) for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and piano

Orchestra

• High Windows (2013) concerto for string orchestra
• Still Life with Violin and Orchestra (2010) for violin and orchestra
• Invisible Overture (2008) for orchestra

Chamber orchestra

• Flows Beneath (2012) for steel pan ensemble and 10 person chamber orchestra

Solo and chamber

• Double Happiness (2012) for electric guitar, percussion, and electronics
• Memory Palace (2012) for solo percussionist and electronics
• Recovering (2011/12) for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, vibraphone, violin, and double bass
• The Night Mare (2011) for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello, and electronics
• Hoyt–Schermerhorn (2010) for solo piano and electronics
• Reading a Wave (2008/2010) for nine instruments placed throughout the audience.
• Variations on a Still Point (2006/7) for guitar, saxophone, percussion, and piano

Vocal

• I will learn to love a person (2013) for soprano, saxophone (or clarinet), percussion, and piano or soprano and piano
• That Night with the Green Sky (2012) for soprano and piano
• How to Breathe Underwater (2011) for baritone, trumpet, trombone, bass clarinet, and pre-recorded electronics
• Requiem [for K.V.] (2007/2009) for solo amplified voice and live electronics. Text by Kurt Vonnegut.
• three e.e. cummings poems (2004) for SSAATTBB choir

Awards and nominations

Ovation Awards

• 2014

Nominated for Book and for Lyrics/Music for an Original Musical for The Industry's production of Invisible Cities^[23]

External links

• Official website
• Eamdc.com
• 'Ep. 40: Christopher Cerrone, composer' Interview by Tigran Arakelyan

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Pulitzer Prizes – Citation. pulitzer.org.
2. Web site: Christopher Cerrone. harvard.edu.
3. Web site: Gordon . Ted . PSNY: Christopher Cerrone Awarded 2015–16 Rome Prize . Eamdc.com . 2015-04-17 . 2015-07-09.
4. Web site: Leonard Bernstein Award. www.ascap.com.
5. Web site: The 2014 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composers Awards. www.ascap.com.
6. Web site: The ASCAP Foundation Names Recipients of the 2011 Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. www.ascap.com.
7. Web site: S01E23 – Christopher Cerrone. Greenroom Conversations: The Process Unplugged.
8. Web site: christopher cerrone Archives – Yale School of Music. Yale School of Music.
9. Web site: Review: An inward tour through 'Invisible Cities'. Los Angeles Times. 21 October 2013 .
10. Is This the Opera of the Future?. 22 October 2013. WIRED.
11. Web site: WQXR – New York's Classical Music Radio Station. wqxr.org.
12. Web site: eighth blackbird. carnegiehall.org. 2015-04-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20150403162903/http://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2016/1/18/0730/PM/Eighth-Blackbird/. 2015-04-03. dead.
13. Web site: L.A. Philharmonic 2014–15 season includes Dessner, Cerrone works. Los Angeles Times. 11 February 2014. Los Angeles Times.
14. Web site: 2013 Music Alive Residency Awardees – New Music USA. newmusicusa.org.
15. Web site: Christopher Cerrone at Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy. Exploring the Metropolis, Inc.. 2015-04-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20150404090147/http://exploringthemetropolis.org/event/chris-cerrone-at-brooklyn-youth-chorus-academy/. 2015-04-04. dead.
16. News: Red Light New Music Plays christopher Cerrone Review. The New York Times. 8 October 2011 . 2015-07-09. Kozinn . Allan .
17. Web site: Red Light New Music at Symphony Space. Adrianne Koteen. 29 May 2012. I CARE IF YOU LISTEN.
18. Web site: Sleeping Giant Collective and the Albany Symphony – New Music USA. newmusicusa.org.
19. Web site: Under the influence: Deviant Septet commissions Sleeping Giant. Adrianne Koteen. 6 June 2012. I CARE IF YOU LISTEN.
20. Web site: PSNY: Christopher Cerrone Works . Eamdc.com . 2015-07-09.
21. Web site: Schott Music – Shop – Search results. schott-music.com.
22. News: Waleson . Heidi . 2022-02-22 . 'In a Grove' Review: Kurosawa at the Opera House . en-US . Wall Street Journal . 2022-03-04 . 0099-9660.
23. News: Ovation Awards Nominees Announced.. 22 September 2014. 25 May 2015. 13 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190713130513/http://lastagealliance.com/ovation-awards-nominees-announced/. dead.