Beth Denisch (born Augusta, Georgia, Feb. 25, 1958) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from North Texas State University in Denton, Texas, and an MM and (in 1993) a DMA from Boston University, where her teachers in composition were John Harbison and Bernard Rands. She has taught at UMass Dartmouth and

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

. She is currently Professor of Composition at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in Boston. In 1996 she founded the New England chapter of the

American Composers Forum The American Composers Forum is an American organization that works for the promotion and assistance of American composers and contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1973 as the Minnesota Composers Forum and is based in Saint Paul, Minn ...

, and she served as their director until 2005. She presently serves as Co-Chair of Gender Research in Music and Education International. Denisch's music has had many prominent performances, and she has received notable prizes and commissions. For instance in 2002, the Handel and Haydn Society performed her "Sorrow and Tenderness" as part of a collaborative youth concert at Brockton High School in Massachusetts. Her "Fire Mountain Intermezzo" for string orchestra was performed b
Chamber Orchestra Kremlin
(directed by Misha Rachlevsky) in Moscow and New York City, after it was one of the winners of their ''Homage to

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

'' competition. Writing in '' The New York Times'', Bernard Holland noted the work's "fierce rhythmic patterns", and that while rooted in tonality, it "snarled and bit with dissonance." Describing her "Golden Fanfare", for orchestra, '' American Record Guide'' praised its "drive" and "minimalist

ostinato In music, an ostinato (; derived from Italian word for ''stubborn'', compare English ''obstinate'') is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces include ...

s and canonic fanfares on a Bulgarian folk-tune." In 1999, Denisch's "The Singing Tree" was a winner in the competition sponsored by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Philadelphia Classical Symphony, for music inspired by the paintings of Maxfield Parrish."Maxfield Parrish Composers’ Competition Concert", by Peter Burwasser, Philadelphia CityPaper, September 23–30, 1999. http://citypaper.net/articles/092399/mus.parrish.shtml?print=1 Following the performance of that work, the Philadelphia Classical Symphony commissioned ''Goblins' Night Out!'' for orchestra and narrator. In 2003 th
Equinox Chamber Players
commissioned Denisch's ''Women, Power and the Journey'' and recorded it and ''Jordan and the Dog Woman''. Denisch also lectures on music and gender issues, for instance at th

held at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, May 27–31, 2009. She is also active in the International Alliance for Women in Music.

References

External links

Beth Denisch official website''Jordan and the Dog Woman'' CD
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denisch, Beth 1958 births 20th-century classical composers American women classical composers American classical composers Living people Berklee College of Music faculty University of North Texas College of Music alumni 20th-century American composers 20th-century American women composers American women academics 21st-century American women