Lee Hyla

Lee Hyla (born August 31, 1952, Niagara Falls, New York) is an American classical music composer.

Lee Hyla was born in Niagara Falls, New York, and grew up in Greencastle, Indiana. He has written for numerous performers including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Kronos Quartet (with Allen Ginsberg), The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Speculum Musicae, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Lydian String Quartet, Triple Helix, Tim Smith, Tim Berne, Laura Frautschi, Rhonda Rider, Stephen Drury, Mia Chung, Judith Gordon, Mary Nessinger, Boston Musica Viva, and House Blend, the resident ensemble at the Kitchen.

Commissions and awards

Hyla has received commissions from the Koussevitzky, Fromm, Barlow, and Naumburg foundations, the Mary Flagler Carey Charitable Trust, Concert Artist's Guild, three commissions from Chamber Music America and two Meet the Composer/Reader's Digest Consortium commissions. He has also been the recipient of the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a Guggenheim fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, the Goddard Lieberson Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the St. Botolph Club Award, and the Rome Prize.

Compositions and premieres

IN 2001, "Wilson's Ivory-Bill", commissioned by FleetBoston Celebrity Series, received its world premiere at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, in a concert headlined by pianist Judith Gordon. More recent projects include the "At Suma Beach" (based on the Noh play Matsukaze) for mezzo-soprano and seven instruments, which was commissioned by the Japan Society of New York, premiered there by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in June 2003, and performed again by the Society at Lincoln Center in May, 2004; Detour Ahead for solo double bass, commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group and performed by Dennis Trembly at the first concert of the Green Umbrella Series in the newly built Disney Hall in November, 2003; Zurek for House Blend, the resident ensemble of the Kitchen in New York, which was premiered in May, 2004; and a setting of the poem Quarry by Paul Auster, which was premiered in the Works and Process series at the Guggenheim Museum in September, 2004.

New works in 2005 included Amore Scaduto for violin and cello, premiered in March by the Network for New Music and Phrenic New Ballet in Philadelphia; a piece based on Polish folk songs premiered by Boston Musica Viva in May; a saxophone quartet for the Prism Quartet premiered in New York in May; and a piece for full orchestra commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center and premiered there in August 2006.

Lee Hyla's compositions are published exclusively by Carl Fischer Music.

Recordings

The most recent recording of Hyla's music is "Wilson's Ivory-Bill", a CD containing four chamber works by the composer. Another recent recording of his music is "Trans", performed by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, conductor. In the fall of 2004, Hyla was the resident composer at the American Academy in Rome, and in the winter and spring of 2005, he was a composition fellow at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. Recordings of Hyla's works have been released on Nonesuch, New World, Avant, Tzadik, CRI, Opus One, and Avant.

Education and employment

Hyla holds a B.M. with honors from New England Conservatory and a M.A. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Studies with Malcolm Peyton and David Lewin. He has been on the faculty of the New England Conservatory and currently is the Harry N. and Ruth F. Wyatt Chair of Music Composition at Northwestern University.

External links

* [http://www.leehyla.com Lee Hyla: contemporary Boston composer] official website
* [http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/faculty/hylaL.html NEC Faculty: Lee Hyla]
* [http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/composer.pl?comp=8 Art of the States: Lee Hyla] two works by the composer