Composer Spotlight: Kevin Puts

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Hailed by the press as “one of the best young composers in America”, KEVIN PUTS (pronounced as in ‘she puts it on the table’) has had works commissioned and performed by leading orchestras, ensembles and soloists throughout North America, Europe and the Far East. Known for his distinctive and richly colored musical voice, Mr. Puts has received many of today’s most prestigious honors and awards for composition.

In October 2007 the Miró Quartet premiered Credo, commissioned by Chamber Music Monterey Bay, recently performed Dallas and reviewed by Scott Cantrell. The Eroica Trio premiered Trio-Sinfonia, commissioned by Music Accord, at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (IL) in 2007. His Violin Concerto, Commissioned by Mr. and Mrs. Sid R. Bass for the Fort Worth Symphony, premiered at the Bass Hall, Fort Worth (TX) in April 2007. He was also selected as the 2007 American Composer-in-Residence for the Bravo! In the fall of 2006, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center gave the New York premiere of And Legions Will Rise, and the Atlanta and Baltimore symphonies performed River’s Rush.

Mr. Puts’ 2005-2006 season included the premieres of three major orchestral works: a percussion concerto for Orange County’s Pacific Symphony and the Utah Symphony, premiered by Evelyn Glennie and performed again at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music; Sinfonia Concertante for five solo instruments and orchestra for the Minnesota Orchestra; and a cello concerto, Vision, commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival and performed by Yo-Yo Ma in honor of David Zinman’s 70th birthday. The New York Philharmonic performed Network in November 2005, marking Mr. Puts’ debut with that orchestra.

Mr. Puts’ honors include the 2003 Benjamin H. Danks Award for Excellence in Orchestral Composition of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a 2001 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, a 2001-2002 Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, and the 1999 Barlow International Prize for Orchestral Music. The first undergraduate to be awarded a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Mr. Puts has won BMI’s 2001 Carlos Surinach Fund Commission, BMI’s 1998 William Schuman Prize, three student composer awards from BMI, and three grants from ASCAP. He was also the recipient of the 1996 BMI Young Musicians’ Foundation Orchestral Premiere. Mr. Puts was Young Concert Artists Composer-in-Residence from 1996-1998, and is still a member of YCA’s management roster.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Puts received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music, his Master’s Degree from Yale University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts at the Eastman School of Music.

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