Hugo Distler, composer

Born: June 24, 1908 in Nuremburg, Germany

Died: November 1, 1942 in Berlin

Education: studied piano, music theory and history while in school; attended Leipzig Conservatory where he originally studied conducting and piano, but was advised to take composition and organ instead; studied with Grabner, Ramin, and Högner

Works: Geistliche Chormusik, Mörike Chorliederbuch (recognized as most important German secular a cappella collection of 20th century); Der Jahrkreis, Choralpassion, Kleine Orgelchoral-Bearbeitungen, Elf kleine Klavierstücke für die Jugend, Neues Chorliederbuch, Orgelsonate (Trio)

Involved in: Orgelbewung, a movement dedicated to a return to the organ sound of the Baroque and pre-Baroque; joined the Nazi Party in 1933 reluctantly, but his continued employment depended on it

Influenced by: Riemann’s Counterpoint teaching, Protestant Chorales, Bach, Schütz; the basis of his work was a rediscovery of old forms and genres

Positions: organist at Jakobkirche in Lübeck, head of chamber music at Lübeck Conservatory; taught at Württemburg Hochschule für Musik; in 1940 appointed to teach composition, organ, choral conducting at Staatliche Academische Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart; director of Berlin State and Cathedral Choir

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Frank Ferko, composer

Born: June 18, 1950 in Barberton, Ohio

Education: began taking piano at age nine; worked as a church organist at the age of 14 and conducted a small church choir at 16; received a BM in piano and organ performance from Valparaiso University, an MM in music theory from Syracuse University and a DMA in Composition from Northwestern University

Works performed by: Nederlands Kamerkoor, VU-Kamerkoor, Oost-Nederlands Kamerkoor, Jubilate Singers, Commotio, Holst Singers, Cantori New York, Cerddorion, Conspirare, Seattle Pro Musica, Choral Arts, Opus 7, Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati, Magnum Chorum, Ars Nova Singers, Lutheran Choir of Chicago, South Bend Chamber Singers, Bella Voce; was Composer-in-Residence with the Dale Warland Singers from 2001-2003

Popular Works: Hildegard Organ Cycle, Hildegard Motets, A Practical Program for Monks, Stabat Mater

Has articles published in: Choir & Organ and The Diapason

Awards and honors: ASCAP awards every year since 1989; awards from Meet the Composer, American Composers Forum, American Music Center, Arts International and the American Guild of Organists; received the Individual Artist’s Fellowship from the Illinois Arts Council four times, who also awarded him the International Travel Exchange grant for presentations of his music in The Netherlands and Ireland

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Morten Lauridsen, composer

Born: February 27, 1943, in Colfax, WA

Began his association with the LAMC: in 1985 when Roger Wagner conducted his Mid-Winter Songs on Poems by Robert Graves at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Was the LAMC composer-in-residence: from 1994 until 2001

The LAMC has premiered his: O Magnum Mysterium, Lux Aeterna, Ave Maria, Voici le Soir (from Nocturnes)

The LAMC has recorded: Lux Aeterna, Les Chanson des Roses, Ave Maria, Mid-Winter Songs, and O Magnum Mysterium on the Grammy Award®- nominated album Lauridsen – Lux Aeterna (1998)

Preparing the next generation of composers: as Distinguished Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music

Awards: in 2006, named an “American Choral Master” by the National Endowment for the Arts; in 2007, was awarded the National Medal of the Arts “for his composition of radiant choral works combining musical beauty, power, and spiritual depth”

International popularity: by the end of the 20th century, he eclipsed Randall Thompson as the most frequently performed American choral composer; his music has been recorded on over 200 CDs and has received several Grammy nominations

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Francis Poulenc, composer

Born: January 7, 1899 in Paris

Died: January 30, 1963 in Paris

Education: his mother was an amateur pianist and taught him to play; first formal musical training was with Charles Koechlin in 1921

Les Six: the group of young French and Swiss composers in Jean Cocteau’s social circle that included Poulenc, Milhaud, Auric, Durey, Honegger and Tailleferre

Religion: while raised Roman Catholic, it wasn’t until the death of a friend and subsequent visit to the shrine of the Black Virgin of Rocamadour that he experienced a life changing transformation, which began a sizable output of liturgical and religious music, beginning with the Litanies à la Vierge Noire

Works: composed music in genres including art song, solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, opera, ballets, and orchestral music as well as choral music

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