Composer's Inc. - Artistic Directors

Composers, Inc. PO Box 194552 San Francisco, CA 94119

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Artistic Directors

Robert Greenberg has composed over forty-five works for a variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles. His works have been performed in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, England, Ireland, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands, where his Child's Play for string quartet was performed at the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. Mr. Greenberg holds degrees from Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a Ph.D. in music composition in 1984. His principal teachers were Edward Cone, Claudio Spies, Andrew Imbrie and Olly Wilson. Among his awards are three Nicola De Lorenzo Prizes, three Meet The Composer grants, and commissions from the Koussevitzky Foundation of the Library of Congress, the Alexander String Quartet, XTET, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. Mr. Greenberg has performed, taught, and lectured extensively across North America and Europe. He is presently Music Historian-in-Residence with San Francisco Performances, and the resident music commentator for National Public Radio’s Weekend All Things Considered. He has recorded over four hundred lectures on various musical topics for the Virginia-based Teaching Company/Superstar Teachers Program. Available in audio and video formats, the lectures are widely circulated and have garnered praise. Robert Greenberg is an artistic director and board member of Composers, Inc. His music is published by Fallen Leaf Press and CPP/Belwin and is recorded on the Innova label.

Frank La Rocca earned the BA in music at Yale University and the MA and Ph.D. in composition at the University of California at Berkeley, where his teachers were Edwin Dugger, Andrew Imbrie and Olly Wilson. Among his honors are first prize in the 2003 Friends and Enemies of New Music competition, an NEA Composer Fellowship, an ASCAP Young Composer’s Award, a California State Artist Fellowship, and the Nicola de Lorenzo Prize. Recent performances include Magnificat at Davies Symphony Hall; Expectavi Dominum in the cathedral at Aarschot, Belgium; In This Place at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and O Vos Omnes by the Pacific Mozart Ensemble. He has been commissioned by Stanford Lively Arts and the San Francisco Girls Chorus to compose a new work to be premiered in February 2005 and performed in July by the SFGC at the World Choral Symposium in Kyoto. Among the soloists and ensembles who have performed and commissioned works are soprano Christine Brandes, California Symphony, Marin Symphony, Redwood Symphony, Orchestra Sonoma, Strata, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, San Francisco Chamber Singers, North/South Consonance, and the Alexander String Quartet. His music has been recorded on the Capstone, CRI, CRS and MEDR labels. Mr. La Rocca is a founding member, past executive director and current artistic director of Composers, Inc. He teaches at California State University, Hayward, where he is head of composition and theory. Visit http://www.franklarocca.com/ for more information.

Jeffrey Miller was born in Battle Creek, Michigan and grew up in the Midwest and in Santa Rosa, California. He studied at San Francisco State University, the University of Southampton, England, and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he received his Ph.D. in composition. Mr. Miller currently teaches music theory and composition at California State University, Hayward, and previously taught at Brooklyn College, Knox College, and the Canberra (Australia) School of Music. His music has been performed throughout the United States, and he has received commissions from the Irving M. Klein String Competition, Musicians’ Accord, and the Nova Singers.

Martin Rokeach’s music has been performed throughout the United States, Europe and Australia by many orchestras, chamber music ensembles and soloists. In the past year his works have been performed by the Chicago Ensemble, Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, St. Olaf Trio (MN), Cygnus Ensemble (NY), Wyck Trio (U. K.), Sheridan Ensemble (Chicago), Webster Trio (TX), and Anderson-Fader Guitar Duo (NY). His music has earned honors in eleven composition competitions, most recently those sponsored by the International Clarinet Association, the Chicago Ensemble, and Cygnus Ensemble, and he has been commissioned to write music for the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Music Teachers Association of California, Northeastern University Band, and California Association of Professional Music Teachers. His music has been published by Fallen Leaf Press, RonCorp, ALRY, and Dorn, and recorded on the Albany, North/South, Capstone, Amie, Arizona, Furious Artisans and CRS labels. He has been a featured composer and speaker at New York University and Wichita State University, and concerts devoted exclusively to his music have been held at Washington State University and Western Carolina University. Mr. Rokeach earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from San Francisco State University, and his Ph.D. in composition and theory from Michigan State University. He is a member of the faculty at Saint Mary’s College, where he teaches music theory, history and chamber music.

Allen Shearer has received many awards in music, including the Aaron Copland Award, the Rome Prize, a Charles Ives Scholarship, an Alfred Hertz Fellowship, residencies at the MacDowell Colony, and several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, including one for the creation of his opera The Goddess. His choral works have been performed in nearly every state of the US as well as in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia, and South Africa. He is active as a baritone as well as a composer. At the end of this month he will perform new vocal music, including his own, in the fourth annual Harvest of Song in Berkeley. He holds degrees from the University of California and the Akademie Mozarteum in Salzburg, and currently teaches at UC, California State University, Hayward, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Visit http://www.composersinc.org/as.html for more information.