Composer Blogs@Sequenza21.com
Composer/keyboardist/producer Elodie Lauten creates operas, music for dance and theatre, orchestral, chamber and instrumental music. Not a household name, she is however widely recognized by historians as a leading figure of post-minimalism and a force on the new music scene, with 20 releases on a number of labels.

Her opera Waking in New York, Portrait of Allen Ginsberg was presented by the New York City Opera (2004 VOX and Friends) in May 2004, after being released on 4Tay, following three well-received productions. OrfReo, a new opera for Baroque ensemble was premiered at Merkin Hall by the Queen's Chamber Band, whose New Music Alive CD (released on Capstone in 2004) includes Lauten's The Architect. The Orfreo CD was released in December 2004 on Studio 21. In September 2004 Lauten was composer-in-residence at Hope College, MI. Lauten's Symphony 2001, was premiered in February 2003 by the SEM Orchestra in New York. In 1999, Lauten's Deus ex Machina Cycle for voices and Baroque ensemble (4Tay) received strong critical acclaim in the US and Europe. Lauten's Variations On The Orange Cycle (Lovely Music, 1998) was included in Chamber Music America's list of 100 best works of the 20th century.

Born in Paris, France, she was classically trained as a pianist since age 7. She received a Master's in composition from New York University where she studied Western composition with Dinu Ghezzo and Indian classical music with Ahkmal Parwez. Daughter of jazz pianist/drummer Errol Parker, she is also a fluent improviser. She became an American citizen in 1984 and has lived in New York since the early seventies

Visit Elodie Lauten's Web Site
Monday, August 14, 2006
Uptown previews

The New York Philharmonic 2006-2007 season will present two premieres by women composers, both well-established within the mainstream. The premieres are: a vocal piece by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, whose music has been released worldwide on Warner Classics, ECM, Wergo and Sony Classical, and performed by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Dawn Upshaw; a commissioned trombone concerto by 1999 Pulitzer prize winner Melinda Wagner (who is currently writing a piece for the US Marine band). Other premieres by the Philharmonic include works Pulitzer prize and Grammy award winner Christopher Rouse, and Europeans Hans Werner Henze (b. 1926) and Daniel Bortz.

The Miller Theater Composer Portraits series will unfortunately not present any women composers in the upcoming season. The selected features are John Zorn with a work about witches and demons, the late jazz composer Julius Hemphill performed by Ursula Oppens and Ethel, Edgard Varèse, Frank Zappa, Steve Reich with his ultimate classic Music for 18 Musicians and Finnish composer Kimmo Hakola performed by Present Music.