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New York, August 2002-The American Academy in Rome has announced an ambitious series of concerts featuring the works of 36 of the 200 American composers it has sponsored with Rome Prize Fellowships over the course of eight decades. The four-concert series, Americans in Rome: Music by Fellows of the American Academy in Rome, will take place at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City on four Wednesdays in the fall of 2002: October 2nd, October 16th, November 6th, and November 13th. All concerts will commence at 8pm. Pre-concert lectures, still in the planning stages, will be announced at a later date.

American Academy in Rome President Adele Chatfield-Taylor, FAAR'84**, explains the impetus for the concerts: "The American Academy in Rome is well known as one of the leading overseas centers for advanced study in the humanities, but its extraordinary record of sponsoring composers and generating new American music is little known these days. These concerts will present a selection from the exceptional works produced by our alumni. The Artistic Director for the concert series, Donald Berman, together with composers John Harbison, [RAAR'81], Robert Beaser [FAAR'78], Kathryn Alexander [FAAR'89] and Paul Moravec [FAAR'85], have programmed the series to represent the full breadth and history of the American Academy's involvement with music, which dates back to 1921, when the Academy awarded its first Rome Prizes in Music Composition to young composers Howard Hanson [FAAR'24], Leo Sowerby [FAAR'24], and Randall Thompson [FAAR'25, RAAR'52]."

The repertoire for the Weill Recital Hall concerts has been organized by genre: the first and fourth concerts feature a variety of chamber music and vocal music; the second concert is a piano recital; and the third concert consists solely of chamber music. "Each concert in the series is extremely rich, both in terms of composers represented and performers participating," says Mr. Berman. The opening concert on October 2nd, 2002 will feature John Harbison conducting Tempo e Tempi by Elliott Carter, FAAR'54, RAAR'80, and the New York premiere of an arrangement of Montezuma (Scene from Act II) by Roger Sessions, FAAR'31; the Borromeo Quartet playing AAR Fellow (1937) Samuel Barber 's String Quartet, containing one of the most famous pieces ever written by an American, the second movement Adagio; and chamber works by Tamar Diesendruck, FAAR'84, Lukas Foss, FAAR'52, RAAR'78, and Stephen Hartke, FAAR'92. Among the stellar musicians performing October 2nd will be cellist Fred Sherry, clarinetist Charles Neidich, and two members of the Flux Quartet: Darrett Adkins and Tom Chiu.

The October 16th concert, a piano recital by Donald Berman, highlights the work of two composers prominent in the 1950s whose compositions are now rarely heard, Billy Jim Layton, FAAR'57 and Harold Shapero, FAAR'51, RAAR'71; plus out-of-print rarities by Hunter Johnson, FAAR'35 and Walter Helfer, FAAR'28; a number of pieces composed at the Academy by Kamran Ince, FAAR'88, George Rochberg, FAAR'51 and Loren Rush, FAAR'71; joined by a composition by Arthur Levering, FAAR'97; and two pieces for piano and electronics, by Mark Wingate, FAAR'99 and James C. Mobberley, FAAR'90.

The November 6th concert features pieces by Andrew Imbrie, FAAR'49, RAAR'68 and John Anthony Lennon, FAAR'81, and the New York premiere of Faraway...Nearby by Kathryn Alexander; the latter two works will be performed by Trio Solisti (Maria Bachmann, vln., Alexis Pia Gerlach, vc., Jon Klibonoff, pno.), which will also play a piece by Paul Moravec. Other composers represented on the program include Bun-Ching Lam, FAAR'92, Martin Bresnick, FAAR'76, RAAR'00, and Lee Hyla, FAAR'91.

The final concert in the series, on November 13th, features the works of no fewer than 13 composers, 10 of whose songs are compiled as "An American Academy Songbook;" performers will be baritone Chris Pédro Trakas and soprano Susan Narucki, with Donald Berman at the piano. Of all the AAR concerts, this one has probably the greatest musical variety, ranging from music by four important senior American lyric composers - Randall Thompson, Leo Sowerby, Jack Beeson, FAAR'50 and Ezra Laderman, FAAR'64; to a rare work by Charles Naginski, FAAR'40 found at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts; an all-but-forgotten violin sonata by Alexander Steinert, FAAR'30 found in the Academy archives in Rome; and compositions by five important young composers: Robert Beaser, Aaron Jay Kernis, FAAR'85, David Rakowski, FAAR'96, Scott Lindroth, FAAR'86 and Derek Bermel, FAAR'02. The music of Vittorio Giannini, FAAR'36 and Yehudi Wyner, FAAR'56, RAAR'91 will also be heard on the program.

**FAAR=Fellow of the American Academy in Rome; RAAR=Resident of the American Academy in Rome; VAAR=Visiting Artist of the American Academy in Rome. The numbers following these designations indicate the year in which the fellowship, residency or visit was concluded.

The American Academy in Rome was founded in 1894 by architect Charles Follen McKim. McKim was joined in the early planning of the Academy by architect Richard M. Hunt, painters John Lafarge and Francis Miller, and sculptors August Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French. Their original idea was to foster a small number of American artists who could conduct research and share ideas amidst the spectacular architectural and cultural wonders of Rome. While originally offering fellowships in architecture, the Academy quickly encompassed many other fields and disciplines in the arts and humanities and today offers fellowships in: Architecture, Design, Historic Preservation and Conservation, Landscape Architecture, Literature, Musical Composition, Visual Arts, Ancient Studies, Medieval Studies, Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, and Modern Italian Studies. Each year the Academy sponsors a competition for the coveted Rome Prize, which provides its winners with a residency at the Academy plus a stipend. Of the 30 Rome Prizes given out each year, two are awarded for Musical Composition. The annual deadline for applications for the Rome Prize is November 1st. For more information about the American Academy in Rome, please visit the Academy's website, www.aarome.com.

This series is made possible in part by the generous support of the Lily Auchincloss Foundation and the Society of Fellows of the American Academy in Rome. Tickets for each concert are $25, and are available through CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, or online at www.carnegiehall.com.

For further information about the Americans in Rome concert series, please contact:

Kathryn King Media
111 West 57th Street, Suite 1416
New York, NY 10019
212-246-2215 tel
212-541-5179 fax
KAJKfm@aol.com e-mail

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Americans in Rome: Music by Fellows of the American Academy in Rome
Adele Chatfield-Taylor, FAAR'84, President, American Academy in Rome
Donald Berman, Artistic Director, Americans in Rome
Kathryn Alexander, FAAR'89, Vice President, Society of Fellows,
American Academy in Rome
Robert Beaser, FAAR'78, Trustee, American Academy in Rome
John Harbison, RAAR'81, Trustee Emeritus, American Academy in Rome
Paul Moravec, FAAR'85, Vice President, Society of Fellows, American Academy in Rome

I. Opening Concert
Wednesday, October 2, 2002 at 8:00pm

Musical Selections:
Tamar Diesendruck, FAAR'84, On That Day
Elliott Carter, FAAR'54, RAAR'80, Tempo e Tempi
Samuel Barber, FAAR'37, RAAR'47, String Quartet
Roger Sessions, FAAR'31, arr. Richard Aldag, Two Tableaus and Malinche's Aria from Montezuma Act II (New York Premiere)
Lukas Foss, FAAR'52, RAAR'78, Songs
Stephen Hartke, FAAR'92, King of the Sun

Performers:
John Harbison, RAAR'81, conductor
Borromeo Quartet
Susan Narucki, soprano
Tara Helen O'Connor, flute
Peggy Pearson, oboe
Charles Neidich, clarinet
Tom Chiu, violin
Curt Macomber, violin
Darrett Adkins, cello
Fred Sherry, cello
Donald Berman, piano
Daniel Druckman, percussion

II. Piano Recital
Wednesday, October 16, 2002 at 8:00pm

Musical Selections:
Kamran Ince, FAAR'88, My Friend Mozart
George Rochberg, FAAR'51, Bagatelle IV and V
Walter Helfer, FAAR'28, Nocturne
Hunter Johnson, FAAR'35, Piano Sonata
Harold Shapero, FAAR'51, RAAR'71, Sonata #1
Billy Jim Layton, FAAR'57, Three Studies for piano op.5
James C. Mobberley, FAAR'90, Caution to the Winds
Mark Wingate, FAAR'99, 3 Sombras for piano and digital delay
Loren Rush, FAAR'71, Oh, Susanna
Arthur Levering, FAAR'97, School of Velocity

Performer:
Donald Berman, piano

III. Chamber Music
Wednesday, November 6, 2002 at 8:00pm

Musical Selections:
John Anthony Lennon, FAAR'81, Sirens
Kathryn Alexander, FAAR'89, Faraway…Nearby (New York Premiere)
Bun-Ching Lam, FAAR'92, Bittersweet Music I
Martin Bresnick, FAAR'76, RAAR'00, Bird as Prophet
Lee Hyla, FAAR'91, In Double Light
Andrew Imbrie, FAAR'49, RAAR'68, Chicago Bells
Paul Moravec, FAAR'85, Mood Swings

Performers:
Trio Solisti:

Maria Bachmann, violin
Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello
Jon Klibonoff, piano

Patti Monson, piccolo
Tim Smith, bass clarinet
Eva Gruesser, violin
Mary Ruth Ray, viola
Donald Berman, piano
Jim Pugliese, percussion

IV. Vocal and Chamber Music
Wednesday, November 13, 2002 at 8:00pm

An American Academy in Rome Songbook

Musical Selections:
Randall Thompson, FAAR'25, RAAR'52, Siciliano
Ezra Laderman, FAAR'64, RAAR'83, Songs from Michelangelo #1
Derek Bermel, FAAR'2002, Spider Love
Jack Beeson, FAAR'50, RAAR'66, Prescription for Living
Charles Naginski, FAAR'40, Look Down Fair Moon
Leo Sowerby, FAAR'24, The Adventurer
David Rakowski, FAAR'96, For Wittgenstein
Aaron Jay Kernis, FAAR'85, Mrs. Midas
Vittorio Giannini, FAAR'36, There were Two Swans
Scott Lindroth, FAAR'86, The Dolphins
Robert Beaser, FAAR'78, Four Dickinson Songs
Alexander Lang Steinert, FAAR'30, Sonata
Yehudi Wyner, FAAR'56, RAAR'91, Horntrio

Performers:
Meagan Miller, soprano
Susan Narucki, soprano
Chris Pédro Trakas, baritone
William Purvis, french horn
Sunghae Anna Lim, violin
Donald Berman, piano