Annual American Composers Update

Kari Henrik Juusela

Kari Henrik Juusela serves as Coordinator of Music Theory and Composition at Stetson Univ., in DeLand, FL. He was awarded the 1997 Stetson Univ. Hand Award for Faculty Research and Creativity and received a 1997-98 Florida Council for the Arts Individual Artists Music Composition Fellowhip. Currently, he is working on a commission from the CORE Ensemble for a multi-media work Myths of the Sub-Tropics, based on stories of early Finnish immigrants in Florida coupled with stories from the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala. Performances of the work will be supported by a Florida Council of the Arts Touring Grant. He also completed a second concerto for santoor and orchestra, in collaboration with Indian santoor virtuoso Nandkishor Muley, which was to premiere in fall 1999, supported by the Asian Cultural Association of Central Florida, Stetson Univ., and the Florida Arts Council.

Premieres

In 1998, premieres at Stetson Univ. included Bliss, for cello quartet (commissioned by David Bjella), with Bjella, Juusela, Heather Jacobson, and Amy Dickerson, Jan. 27; and Natai Boogie, commissioned by the university for the centennial rededication of Elizabeth Hall, with pianists Anne McLean and Edit Palmer, Feb. 10. Kyrie, for choir, organ, six percussion, and electric bass, was heard first Apr. 22, 1999, under the direction of Duncan Couch.

Publications

Kyrie; Mill Town Johnny; choir, cello, bass, and piano; both by Yleton Rhodes Music, 1998.

Recordings

Crossing Twilight, for computer-generated tape; University of Maryland Stages CD, 1997. Ilta Pala(a), for solo guitar; SCI Chamber Works CD, 1997. Mill Town Johnny; Stetson Univ. School of Music A Tip O' the Hat II CD, 1997.