Mollie O'Meara

Mollie O'Meara was a featured composer at the University of New Mexico's annual Composers Symposium, March 30-April 2, 2003, Albuquerque, NM. She was one of three panelists discussing "Music and Politics." During a "Meet the Composer" segment, O'Meara shared recordings of the works No More Sacrificial Lamb, Whirlwind, and Canzona di Cucina Italiana. Mountain Spirit, for cello solo, was performed in the final concert of the symposium. O'Meara has received several new commissions, including Sounds of War, by choral group Quodlibet, for a May 2003 concert (the composer adds that the piece was "not performed, as chorale members considered it too political"); Love In Swingtime, a piano solo commissioned by J. Hockert for his parents' 60th wedding anniversary, and premiered by the composer, November 21; and Visions, Dreams, and Realities, for viola and clarinet/bass clarinet, to be performed by violist Bruce Owen and clarinetist John Reeks, at Loyola University, Chicago, IL.

Premieres

Night Music and Trickster, for oboe and piano, were presented by Hayley Thomas and the composer at the Solo and Ensemble Competition, March 1, 2003, Albuquerque, NM. The composer introduced A Walk in Clouds and Stars for piano at an April 6 student composer event titled "Landscapes: Real and Imagined," Paradise Hills United Methodist Church, Albuquerque.

Performances

Mountain Spirit was presented April 2, 2003, by cellist David Scheppes, at the UNM Composers' Symposium. Soprano Katherine Price, accompanied by the composer, performed Love is of God for a wedding April 12 at Paradise Hills UMC, Albuquerque. Night Music and Trickster were presented, with the composer as oboe soloist, accompanied by pianist Dennis Strause, at a May 10 Piano and Friends Recital, also at Paradise Hills UMC.

Further Information

• 2001-2002 American Composers Update