CONWAY, Ark. (November 4, 2013) – Hendrix music
professor Dr. Karen Griebling is leading a grassroots program to cultivate and
promote high quality new music in Conway.
The Conway Composers Guild (CCG), in which
Griebling serves as president, formed in 2010 in response to the Conway 2025
Initiative for long-range planning in the city of Conway.
Since its founding, CCG has developed an
internet presence through social media to promote new music by its members
and significant events that include new music making in and around
the city, and offered an annual concert devoted to the latest new music
by CCG member composers at First Methodist Church in Conway in early
February.
“Since the beginning, we had envisioned
developing an educational outreach program as one of our goals but kept
stumbling up against a variety of obstacles,” Griebling said.
The opportunity finally came thanks to a
collaborative initiative with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, she said.
This year, CCG will hold the inaugural Dr. W. Francis McBeth
Memorial Composition Contest. The competition honors the memory of the
Arkansas' most significant composer, William Francis McBeth (March 9, 1933 -
January 6, 2012).
McBeth was appointed Composer Laureate by the
governor, the first composer in the nation so appointed. A celebrated
composer with an international reputation, he served as professor of music
at Ouachita Baptist University and as conductor of the Arkansas Symphony
during its formative years.
The project will
continue McBeth's legacy as composer and educator by encouraging and supporting
young composers from the state which became McBeth's home for more than half a
century, Griebling said.
“The collaboration is, in fact, one of the
things that make this program unique among composition contests,” she
explained. “Unlike most competitions that simply end with a
prize, ours cultivates the young composer and encourages further
growth. Not only does the competition specifically target young
composers with a connection to Arkansas as residents, natives and students, but
the prize includes being mentored by professional musicians, including
performers, composers and conductors to create a commissioned piece.”
To assure that the competition winner has the
resources to produce the commission with high quality engraved score and
parts, MakeMusic has generously contributed its Finale music notation
software as a tangible award. Learning to use this software will be a part
of the education process for the winner as well.
The competition brings together many things Dr.
McBeth cared about including encouraging young composers, music education,
and the symphony, Griebling said.
Judges have been drawn from among the
most respected professional composers from around the country. Entries
should be postmarked by Dec. 6, 2013.
For more
information including membership inquiries and contest entry forms, contact musicianmail-ccg@yahoo.com and "Like" The Conway Composers Guild on Facebook.
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in
engaged liberal arts and sciences education. For the sixth consecutive year,
Hendrix was named one of the country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by
U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change
the Way You Think about Colleges,
as well as the 2014 Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, Forbes magazine's list of America's Top Colleges, and
the 2014 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United
Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.