Persis Vehar
Composer
Full Length Biography
Hailed by the New York Times for her musical “honesty, clarity and
compositional skill”, Persis Parshall Vehar has had works commissioned
and performed by leading orchestras, opera companies, ensembles,
soloists and schools throughout the United States and Europe. Known for
her colorful orchestral combinations and innovative vocal techniques,
Ms. Vehar has received many of today’s most prestigious honors and
awards for composition.
With over 200 compositions ranging from solo song to full orchestral
works and operas, Vehar’s works have been performed at many of the
leading concert halls throughout Europe and the United States, including
the Royal Festival Hall (London), Graz Music Festival (Austria),
McMaster & Brock Universities (Canada), University of California at
Irvine & Santa Barbara, Copenhagen (Denmark), Uppland (Sweden),
Pittsburg State University (Kansas), Ohio State University, Michigan
State University, Manhattan School of Music, the Detroit Chamber Winds &
Strings Series, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, North
Carolina. She is the recipient of 27 annual ASCAP Awards and seven Meet
the Composer grants, and is included in the International Museum’s
Collection of Distinguished Musicians in London and the Biblioteque
Internationale De Musique Contemporaine in Paris. Her works are
published by C. F. Peters and Boosey & Hawkes, and her compositions have
been broadcast on National and International Public Radio and Television.
Ms. Vehar’s compositions based on poem settings have been praised by the
Buffalo News as “a joy” and “immediately accessible”, with “the
lightness that is the hallmark of Vivaldi”. Recent works include her
composition Millay-Sia, four settings of poems by Edna St. Vincent
Millay for soprano and string orchestra, which was performed at Carnegie
Hall by the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra; and L’Acqua Diversa di Vivaldi
which was commissioned for the 25th Anniversary of Ars Nova’s Viva
Vivaldi Series.
Recent commissions include Peace Requiem for orchestra, chorus and
soprano and baritone soloists, which was premiered by the Western New
York Children’s Chorus, the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, and the Buffalo
Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Swan, Conductor. In 2009, the Freudig
Singers and Conductor Roland Martin commissioned and premiered The Heart
Replies to Music for their 25th Anniversary season. Tennessee’s
Austin-Peay State University commissioned her 4th opera, George Sand...And
Chopin to commemorate the 25th Anniversary season of their “Dimensions”
series. This summer, the Opera Saratoga NY Performing
Arts Center premiered a semi-staged performance of her fifth opera,
Eleanor, based on Rhoda Lerman’s play about Eleanor Roosevelt. The
Syracuse Society for New Music will perform scenes from the same opera
on its 2009 summer series in Cazenovia, NY and in other
college and university venues during the 2009-10 season. The college-level
New York State Teachers Music Association has commissioned her to
compose a new chamber music work in 2010 for their series that matches
upstate New York composers with downstate universities.
Her compositions based on the poetry of award-winning poet Charles
Bukowski have been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “enticing glimpses
of a fresh sort of whiskey-breathed art song”. A total of twenty-three
of these art songs were premiered by Metropolitan Opera bass Valerian
Ruminski in Los Angeles, New York City and at the Academy of Vocal Arts
in Philadelphia. Her one-person opera, Bukowski: Larger than Life, was
premiered by Ruminski and Vehar at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. In
June 2009, the Abiquiu Festival in New Mexico opened with selections
from her Bukowski songs and her song cycle based on the poetry of Vachel
Lindsay, the Ghosts of Lindsay. Ruminski recently commissioned her to
compose a song cycle based on poems by Catullus.
Ms. Vehar’s first work for countertenor, In the Palace of Time, five
settings of poetry by Lucille Clifton, will be premiered in 2010 by
Darryl Taylor at the University of California at Irvine. Additional
performances will be given in the Los Angeles area under the auspices of
the LA chapter of the National Association of Composers. Her song
cycle, Radiance, was premiered by soprano Laura Aikin and flutist Carol
Wincenc with Vehar at the piano, sponsored by New York City’s Classical
Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS in 2006.
The Floorplay Dance Company commissioned and premiered her music for
Steps #12, choreographed by Gus Solomons, Jr., a leading figure in
postmodern and experimental dance. The Buffalo News dance critic
heralded this collaboration as the year’s “Critic’s Choice”.
Her works for wind ensemble include Winter Mountain, commissioned and
premiered by Dr. Timothy Topolewski with the Crane School of Music (SUNY
at Potsdam) Wind Ensemble; and Bright Phoenix Ascending, commissioned
and premiered by The Clarence High School Wind Ensemble, at the
Mid-Western Band Clinic in Chicago.
In 2007, acclaimed conductor JoAnn Falletta premiered Ms. Vehar’s City
of Light Concerto for clarinet & orchestra with Principal Clarinetist
John Fullam and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Praised by the
Buffalo News for the “clarinet’s Gregorian chant”, “superb pianissimo
passages”, and “orchestral partnership”, this work is featured on
her City of Light CD with Mr. Fullam, the BPO, and Ms. Vehar as
pianist.
The Czech Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Valek, Conductor, made
the premiere recording of her Light/Lux/Svietlo, which has received
subsequent live performances in the United States. An accomplished
pianist, Vehar recorded her work Sound-Piece for Trumpet, Flugelhorn,
Piccolo Trumpet and Piano, with Buffalo Philharmonic principal trumpet,
David Kuehn on their critically acclaimed CD, Musical Landscapes For
Trumpet. Her From the Mountain Top was recorded by David and Daniel
Kuehn, trumpets and Ken Mervine, organist, and will be featured on an
upcoming CD. Recordings of her music may be heard on the Fleur de Son
Classics, Ltd., MMC, Aeolian, Loft, Capstone, and Mark labels.
Vehar is currently in her 13th year as Composer-in-Residence at Canisius
College, and regularly makes presentations at such colleges and
universities as State University of New York Colleges at Fredonia,
Buffalo and Potsdam, Pittsburg State University (Kansas), Austin-Peay
State University (Tennessee), Wake Forest University (North Carolina),
and the Eastman School of Music. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in
Music Theory from Ithaca College and a Master of Music Degree in Piano
Performance from the University of Michigan, and had three years’
post-graduate study in New York City. Her private composition studies
were with Warren Benson, Ross Lee Finney, Roberto Gerhard and Ned Rorem.
She had additional advanced composition workshops with Milton
Babbitt, John Cage, Leon Kirchner, Roger Sessions and Jacob Druckman.
Persis Vehar
Composer
Condensed Biography
Hailed by the New York Times for her musical “honesty, clarity and
compositional skill”, Persis Parshall Vehar has had works commissioned
and performed by leading orchestras, opera companies, ensembles,
soloists and schools throughout the United States and Europe. Known for
her colorful orchestral combinations and innovative vocal techniques,
Ms. Vehar has received many of today’s most prestigious honors and
awards for composition.
With over 200 compositions ranging from solo song to full orchestral
works and operas, Vehar’s works have been performed at many of the
leading concert halls throughout Europe and the United States, including
the Royal Festival Hall (London), Graz Music Festival (Austria), and the
Piccolo Spoleto Festival (Charleston, North Carolina). She is the
recipient of 27 annual ASCAP Awards and seven Meet the Composer grants and
is included in the International Museum’s Collection of Distinguished
Musicians in London and the Biblioteque Internationale De Musique
Contemporaine in Paris. Her works are published by C. F. Peters and
Boosey & Hawkes, and her compositions have been broadcast on National and
International Public Radio and Television.
Recent works include her composition Millay-Sia, four settings of poems
by Edna St. Vincent Millay for soprano and string orchestra, which was
performed at Carnegie Hall by the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra; and Peace
Requiem for orchestra, chorus and soprano and baritone soloists, which
was premiered by the Western New York Children’s Chorus, the Buffalo
Philharmonic Chorus and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Her compositions based on the poetry of award-winning poet Charles
Bukowski have been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “enticing glimpses
of a fresh sort of whiskey-breathed art song”. A total of twenty-three
of these art songs were premiered by Metropolitan Opera bass Valerian
Ruminski in Los Angeles, New York City and at the Academy of Vocal Arts
in Philadelphia. Ruminski recently commissioned her to compose a song
cycle based on poems by Catullus. Ms. Vehar has also received critical
acclaim for her compositions for postmodern and experimental dance, and
for wind ensemble.
In 2007, acclaimed conductor JoAnn Falletta premiered Ms. Vehar’s City
of Light Concerto for clarinet & orchestra with Principal Clarinetist
John Fullam and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. This work is
featured on her City of Light CD with Mr. Fullam, the BPO, and
Ms. Vehar as pianist. Recordings of Ms. Vehar’s works also include
Light/Lux/Svietlo (Czech Radio Philharmonic Orchestra), and Musical
Landscapes For Trumpet (Buffalo Philharmonic, principal trumpet, David
Kuehn, and Ms. Vehar as pianist). Upcoming CDs include From the Mountain
Top, with works for trumpet and organ. Recordings of her music may be
heard on the Fleur de Son Classics, Ltd., MMC, Aeolian, Loft, Capstone,
and Mark labels.
Vehar is currently in her 13th year as Composer-in-Residence at Canisius
College, and regularly makes presentations at such colleges and
universities as State University of New York Colleges at Fredonia,
Buffalo and Potsdam, Pittsburg State University (Kansas), Austin-Peay
State University (Tennessee), Wake Forest University (North Carolina),
and the Eastman School of Music. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in
Music Theory from Ithaca College and a Master of Music Degree in Piano
Performance from the University of Michigan, and had three years’
post-graduate study in New York City. Her private composition studies
were with Warren Benson, Ross Lee Finney, Roberto Gerhard and Ned Rorem.
She had additional advanced composition workshops with Milton Babbitt,
John Cage, Leon Kirchner, Roger Sessions and Jacob Druckman.
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Persis Vehar, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Principal
Clarinetist John Fullam, & Conductor JoAnn Falletta at the premiere of
Vehar’s City Of Light Concerto |
At the premiere of her opera, Eleanor Roosevelt, Curtis Tucker, Director of the Opera Saratoga,
Persis Vehar, and John Douglas, Music Director |
Persis Vehar and Metropolitan Opera Bass Valerian Ruminski rehearsing for
their performance of her songs at the Abiquiu Chamber Music Festival in
New Mexico |
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