PRESS RELEASE:
Louisa Trewartha Commissioned by Mid America Freedom Band
January 24, 2017 Kansas City, MO — The Mid America Freedom Band has commissioned Louisa Trewartha to compose a new piece scheduled to receive its premiere in the ensemble’s 15th season.
Trewartha, a freelance composer, conductor, educator, and trumpeter from Melbourne, Australia, was unanimously selected by a five-person panel after reviewing the submissions resulting from the fourth annual Mid America Freedom Band Call for Proposals. Each year the call is altered slightly to fit the theme of the season.
Submissions were received from a talented pool of 40 composers from across the globe including those from Brazil, China, Australia, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, the United Kingdom, and numerous entries from the United States. In keeping with the theme of the Mid America Freedom Band’s 2017–18 season “Frontiers and Pioneers,” Trewartha will write a piece inspired by Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, to receive its premiere on October 29, 2017 at the J.C. Nichols Auditorium at the National World War I Museum and Memorial by the Mid America Freedom Band.
“Louisa’s diverse background as a performer, composer, conductor, and educator shows in her carefully crafted compositions. Her skill is evident across her gripping film scores, timbrally creative chamber music, and compelling works for brass band. We’re delighted to work with her on this new piece. It’s a honor to present new and unfamiliar voices in contemporary composition to our Kansas City audiences. I encourage those in the band world to seek out her music and that of our other stellar finalists,” writes Mid America Freedom Band Artistic Director Lee Hartman.
This new work will join pieces by Aaron Copland, Julie Giroux, Mark Camphouse, Ralph Raymond Hays, and more on the fall concert of the Mid America Freedom Band’s 15th season on October 29, 2017.
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MAFB Call for Proposals Results Selected Composer: Louisa Trewartha
Runner-Up: Matthew Nunes
Finalists (in alphabetical order): Troy Armstrong, David Avshalomov, Craig Biondi, Edmund Jolliffe, Patricia Martínez, Gene Pritsker, Anna Rubin, David Snow
Panelists: Lee Hartman (Artistic Director), Jeanine Asay (Librarian, tenor saxophone), Federika “Freddy” Morado (euphonium), Christopher Walter (trumpet), Daniel Vu (percussion).