DAVID FELDER has long been recognized as a leader in his
generation of American composers. His works have been featured at
many of the leading international festivals for new music, and
earns continuing recognition through performance and commissioning
programs. Felder’s work has been broadly characterized by its
highly energetic profile, through its frequent employment of
technological extension and elaboration of musical materials
(including his “Crossfire” video series), and its
lyrical qualities.
Felder has received numerous grants and commissions including
many awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, two New York
State Council Commissions, a New York Foundation for the Arts
Fellowship, Guggenheim, Koussevitzky, two Fromm Foundation
Fellowships, two awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, Meet the
Composer “New Residencies” (1993-1996) with the Buffalo
Philharmonic, two commissions from the Mary Flagler Cary Trust, and
many more. In May. 2010, he has received the Music Award from the
American Academy of Arts and Letters, a career recognition award.
Recent commissioned works include: a second quartet,
"stuck-stuecke", for the Arditti Quartet (2007), commissioned by
the Siemens Foundation; "Chashmal" for bass voice, with
electronics, and video by Elliot Caplan (2006-7) for a consortium
of European festivals, "So Quiet Here", an electronic work
dedicated to poet Robert Creeley and commissioned by the Capen
Chair in 2006 "Sa'arah", part 2 of the cycle for Isherwood,
electronics and image, commissioned by the Argosy Fund, "Black Fire
/ White Fire", part 3 of the same project (the entirety titled,
“Shamayim”), commissioned by a consortium of presenters
worldwide; "Insomnia", a work for bass voice, and percussion
commissioned by the “Works and Process” Series at the
Guggenheim Museum, and “rare air”, for Jean Kopperud
and Steve Gosling (2008-9). Current projects include a work (
tentatively titled Le Quatre Temps Cardinaux) for soprano Laura
Aikin, bass Ethan Hirschenfeld, large chamber orchestra (BMOP,
Signal, and Slee Sinfonietta) and electronics on texts of Neruda,
Creeley and Daumal, (Fall, 2011), and ensemble works commissioned
by Neo Norbotten of Sweden, and Norway’s Cikada Ensemble, for
the period 2010-12.
Felder serves as Birge-Cary Chair in Composition
at SUNY, Buffalo, and has been Artistic Director of the “June
in Buffalo” Festival from 1985 to the present. Since
2006, he has been Director of the Robert and Carol Morris Center
for 21st Century Music at the University. From 1992 to 1996 he was
Meet the Composer "New Residencies", Composer-in-Residence to the
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and WBFO-FM. In 1996, he formed the
professional chamber orchestra, the Slee Sinfonietta, and has been
Artistic Director since that time. In 2008, he was named SUNY
Distinguished Professor, the highest rank in the SUNY system. An
active teacher and mentor, he has served as dissertation advisor
for over forty composers at Buffalo, many of whom are actively
teaching, composing and performing internationally at leading
institutions. Felder served as Master Artist in Residence at the
Atlantic Center for the Arts in February-March, 2010. He has taught
previously at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of
California, San Diego, and California State University, Long Beach,
and earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, in
1983. His works are published by Theodore
Presser, and a first full CD of his work was released to
international acclaim (including “disc of the year” in
chamber music from both the American Record Guide and BBC Music
Magazine) on the Bridge label (Bridge
#9049) during 1996. A second disc containing orchestral work
was released by Mode Records (Mode
#89; “Editor’s Best of the Year” selection,
Fanfare Magazine, 2002) in Spring, 2000, and EMF
#033 was released in July, 2001, containing premiere recordings
of orchestral works by Morton Feldman and David Felder (two works
for each composer) to very enthusiastic critical review. Two 5.1
surround recordings of his music featuring works with electronics
have recently been released in Fall, 2009 on Albany Records (Albany
1137 and 1153).
Additional surround recordings are in the final stages and will be
released in 2010-11.
