Evan Mack (born 1981) 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 ...

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

and pianist. He is "considered one of the most gifted composers of his generation by industry insiders." He is currently published with Hal Leonard, Alfred, and KDP Publishing.

Studies

Mack studied under Craig Lies, Michael Slayton and Stan Link at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. He later studied with

Michael Chertock Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

of the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cincin ...

and participated in master classes by

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

Seymour Lipkin Seymour Lipkin ( May 14, 1927 – November 16, 2015) was an American concert pianist, conductor, and educator. Early life and piano career Lipkin was born in Detroit. At age 11, he entered the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Dav ...

Emanuel Ax Emanuel "Manny" Ax (born 8 June 1949) is a Grammy-winning American classical pianist. He is a teacher in the Juilliard School. Early life Ax was born to a Polish-Jewish family in Lviv, Ukraine, (in what was then the Soviet Union) to Joachim and ...

and

James Tocco James Tocco (born 1943) is an American concert pianist. He is the youngest of thirteen children born to Vincenzo and Rose Tocco, both Sicilian immigrants. Early life Born of Sicilian immigrant parents in Detroit, Michigan, Tocco's love of music ...

. He holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

’s College-Conservatory of Music and is on the faculty of

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study. History Sk ...

Compositions

Mack composed the music and libretto for his opera ''Angel of the Amazon'', which premiered in May 2011, staged by Encompass New Opera Theatre at the

Baryshnikov Arts Center The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) is a foundation and arts complex opened by Mikhail Baryshnikov in 2005 at 450 West 37th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The top three floor ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and was released worldwide by

Albany Records Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987 and is based in Albany, New York. See also * List of record la ...

. ''

Opera News ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...

'' hailed the work as "edgy...most imaginative...and a worthy contemporary American Opera". He teamed up with librettist, Joshua McGuire. Their first opera titled, ''The Secret of Luca'' premiered in

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

in April 2014. They followed up an American Grand Opera called ''Roscoe,'' which premiered by the Seagle Music Colony in 2016. Mack and McGuire's Multi-Cultural Children's Opera, ''Lucinda y las Flores de la Nochebuena'' was commissioned by Fresno State Opera Theatre and was seen by thousands of children with performances by

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he ...

, Opera in the Heights!,

Coker College Coker University is a private university in Hartsville, South Carolina. It was founded in 1908 and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Coker's sports teams, nicknamed the Cobras, compete in NCAA Division II. Histo ...

, and

UTRGV The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public research university with multiple campuses throughout the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas and is the southernmost member of the University of Texas System. The University of Texas ...

. Their latest one-act opera, ''The Ghosts of Gatsby'' was commissioned by Samford University under the direction of Kristin Kenning. This tale of marriage and madness about a day-in-the-life of

Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Fitzgerald (; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, dancer, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she was noted for her beauty and high spirits, and was dubbed by her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald a ...

and her husband,

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

won the 2018-2020 National Opera Association's Argento Competition. It will receive a full production by Baldwin Wallace under the direction of

Scott Skiba Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saskat ...

. Currently, Mack & McGuire are composing a one-act comedy called, ''

Yeltsin in Texas! Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

'' Mack's choral suite, ''Langston Hughes’ Dream of Freedom'' was a Selection Winner of the National Association of Composers,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and the UCM New Music Festival. The work is published by Hal Leonard. As a composer, he produced five full musicals (three for

children's theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

). Hailed as “the Springtime Nutcracker,” Mack's ''Pinocchio'' was premiered at the

Charleston Civic Center The Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center (originally known as Charleston Civic Center) is a municipal complex located in the downtown area of Charleston, West Virginia, United States. Originally completed in 1958, it consists of four main co ...

by the Charleston Ballet. Mack's work for two pianos, ''American Groove'', was performed by the Westhuizen Duo across the United States and South Africa throughout 2011. The work was a Selection Winner for the SCI Regional Conference in 2010 and premiered in Greensboro, North Carolina. A choral work, ''Of Fire and Form'', commissioned by the West Virginia chapter of the ACDA premiered in February 2011 at the Clay Center in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

and was performed on tour by the

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

Chamber Choir.

Performances

Mack's compositions have been performed all over the United States, including

Glimmerglass Opera The Glimmerglass Festival (formerly known as Glimmerglass Opera) is an American opera company. Founded in 1975 by Peter Macris, the Glimmerglass Festival presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight ...

, The Baryshnikov Arts Center, the Seagle Music Colony, Winspear Opera House, Bass Hall, and numerous colleges and universities. Mack performed as a pianist in the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Chamber Players, the

Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (DPO) is a fully professional musical group in Dayton, Ohio, formed in 1933. It is a member of the League of American Orchestras (LAO) and the Regional Orchestra Players' Association (ROPA), and presents programs ma ...

, and the

; including a performance in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. He performed live for the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center.

References

External links

Angel of the Amazon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mack, Evan American male classical composers Living people University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music alumni Skidmore College faculty American classical composers 21st-century American composers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century American male musicians 1981 births