Curt Cacioppo
Ruth Marshall Magill Professor of Music
Curt Cacioppo was born in 1951 in Ravenna, Ohio. His paternal lineage is Sicilian and maternal lineage Anglo-Saxon. He began his first piano lessons at age 9 under the guidance of his mother. His first recital was at age 11 at Kent State University's School of Music, where he received his baccalaureate degree a decade later, studying composition and majoring in piano. He participated in master classes led by Arthur Loesser, John Browning, Ruth Laredo, Robert de Gaetano, and others. At the Blossom Festival School he coached chamber music under principal members of The Cleveland Orchestra, including oboist John Mack and violinist Josef Gingold, and pianist Tung Kwong Kwong, a disciple of Schnabel. From Ohio he went to New York University and earned a Master of Arts degree (1976) in musicology under Gustave Reese. His thesis dealt with music of the liégeois composer Johannes Ciconia, who flourished in Padua in the late trecento/early quattrocento. During his time in NYC, Cacioppo won an American Society of University Composers award for his Klavierstück, which was premiered at the ASUC national conference. From New York, Cacioppo went on to Harvard University. As a graduate student he received the Variell Scholarship and won the Frances Boott composition prize. Under Leon Kirchner, Earl Kim (both protégés of Arnold Schoenberg) and Ivan Tcherepnin, he took his MA (1979) and Ph.D. (1980) in composition, and was appointed to the faculty for a four year period. During this time, his music was premiered by the Bach Society Orchestra, the Akron Symphony under Louis Lane, on the Fromm Contemporary Music Series, and on the Bösendorfer Concert Series in New York. In 1983 he moved from Cambridge to Philadelphia to join the faculty of Haverford College, where he is Ruth Marshall Magill Professor of Music.
In 1985 Cacioppo gave a debut recital of his own and other 20th century piano music at Merkin Concert Hall in NYC. Tim Page, writing in The New York Times, described the program as "defiantly unusual," and in particular the composer's Eclogue as "a massive, coloristic and meticulously constructed work on a Lisztian scale" that "kept one's full attention throughout..." Highlighting activities subsequent to this, Cacioppo spent a creative year in Italy (1986-7), was composer in residence at the Grand Teton Festival (1988), co-founded the Fiore-Cacioppo Duo with lyric soprano Janice Fiore (1989), taught for a summer in Siena, Italy (1990), received a Howard Foundation Fellowship (1990-91) and a premiere by the Yale Symphony Orchestra (1991), appeared at the Mid-American Center for Contemporary Art and Music in Ohio, at the College Music Society National Conference in San Diego, California, and as a Visiting Professor at Villanova University (1992), received premieres by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and was awarded the internationally conferred Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Prize (1993), was featured composer at the 26th Settimana Organistica Internazionale in Italy (1994) and at the Gasteig Cultural Center in Munich, Germany (1995), received the premiere of a commissioned work by the Emerson String Quartet and released a CD recording of his cantata entitled Wolf (1996), was honored with an Academy Award for exceptional achievement in music by the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1997), released a CD comprised entirely of his own music featuring the Emerson String Quartet and himself at the piano (1998), was featured for an orchestral piece at the Conductors Guild National Conference in Los Angeles, California, and received a performance of a new choral work by the Haverford-Bryn Mawr Chamber Singers on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage series in Washington, D.C. (1999). His music has also been performed by the Orchestra 2001 and Network for New Music of Philadelphia, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, the National Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Tacoma Symphony, and by leading members of the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and other esteemed ensembles. He himself has premiered works by Robert Ward, George Rochberg, Ulysses Kay, William Bolcom, Ingrid Arauco, Alejandro Cardona, and others. He has received grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Samuels S. Fels Fund, the American Music Center, Meet the Composer, the Fletcher Foundation, the Hewlett-Mellon Fund, the Whitehead and Sah Funds/Haverford College, among others. Cacioppo has also contributed articles to the Garland Encyclopedia of Keyboard Instruments. Vol. III: The Piano, and published analytical papers on Beethoven, Schumann, and Stravinsky in Piano Quarterly, Journal of Musicological Research, and CMS Symposium. He maintains interests in the pianistic and compositional style of Ferruccio Busoni, having in the early '90's delivered a lecture-recital on this topic at King's College, University of London. He recently performed his Faust Narrative No. 1 (based on Busoni’s opera) with violinist Arnold Steinhardt.
In 2000 Cacioppo premiered his new piano cycle Three American Fantasies, new vocal works Franciscan Prayer and An die unsterbliche Geliebte, and his Quattro canti were performed and recorded by the Coro Madrigalia in La Coruña, Spain. His Oboe Concerto was premiered by the Ensemble di Venezia during the 11th International "Viva Vivaldi" Festival at the Church of the Pietà in Venice, Italy. In 2001, his trio for violin, cello and piano entitled The Ancestors was introduced. In 2002 the American String Quartet premiered his 2nd quartet, a distant voice calling, which was commissioned by the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music (soon to be released on their CD series), and his organ work Visione delle Crociate (Vision of the Crusades) was premiered by the renowned Swedish organist Hans Fagius at the Settimana Organistica Internazionale in Piacenza, Italy. In conjunction with the New Jersey Symphony's "American Roots Festival," he appeared recently as performer and commentator, playing and speaking about his Amerindian affinities. In April of 2003, his new string quartet Impressioni venexiane (Impressions of Venice) was premiered by the Quartetto d'Archi di Venezia. He was the feature artist for the 18th annual German-American Day program in Duisburg, Germany in 2004, introducing his songs on texts by the contemporary lyric poet Friedrich Thiel.
His music reflects both old world and new world aspects. Many of his compositions stem from his profound response to Native American issues and influences. He regularly teaches a Native American studies course that focuses on North American indigenous music and belief in a social justice context. All of the works on his earlier CD -- Nayénezgani ("Monsterslayer," based on Navajo legend), Pawnee Preludes (based on authentic Amerindian melodies) -- and others such as Scenes from Indian Country, Wolf or Quattro canti indigeni nordamericani express this side of his creative involvement. Balancing this are the pieces which show his connection to European and, specifically, Italian roots: Ciclo metamorfico, Sonata trasfigurata, Tuscan Folio, Poems from Paternina, Canto notturno, and the concert length Trilogia dantesca for piano, orchestra and chorus based on Dante's Commedia, the premiere of which is being planned for a coming season with the Orquesta y Coro Estable, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Curt Cacioppo, piano soloist, Stefan Lano, conductor. His music has been discussed at length in a 1996 dissertation by Dr. Paul Orgel entitled Curt Cacioppo's Pawnee Preludes for Piano (Temple University), and recent reviews and feature articles may be found in Fanfare (Jul/Aug '04, p. 35, 75-76, Jan/Feb '99, p. 144-5, and Mar/Apr '99, p. 178-9), Time Out New York (Apr 10-17, '03, issue 393, p. 135), The Washington Post (Mar 17, '03, C1 &C9, by Tim Page), Philadelphia Music Makers (Vol. 4, No. 1, Spring '05, p. 14-15), 20th Century Music (Feb '99), American Record Guide (Mar/Apr '05, p. 236-7, & earlier eds.), and Amadeus (June '99, p. 41-43). Cacioppo's work is referenced in the recent book Diabolus in Musica by the Italian musicologist Marcello de Angelis (Casa Editrice Le Lettere, Firenze, 2001).
To view an interview of Curt, click here: http://www.haverford.edu/newpresident/flashtest.php
VIDEO: Watch Professor Curt Cacioppo discuss the details of his composition to be performed Saturday, November 10th at 8:00 pm by QUARTETTO DI VENEZIA, part of our Guest Artist Series.
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| Capstone
Records MSR Classics LLC |
Hillsdale, NY 12529 Orenda Press |
320 W. 57th St. NYC, NY 10019 |
Upcoming and Recent Activities
December 12, 2008 -- Concert sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute
in Tokyo, "Una serata dantesca,"
featuring Curt Cacioppo as
pianist in the premieres of his Sestinamento "Operistica" on
a poem by Luigi Cerantola,
and the 10 piece cycle "Malebolge" by
Marino Baratello.
Program begins at 7 pm in the Auditorium of the Italian
Cultural Institute,
and will include the participation of Kazuaki Ura
of the Imperial University of Tokyo,
and Luigi Cerantola,
with a visual
presentation of images of the Inferno based on paintings of Botticelli.
November 23, 2008 -- recital on Rive Gauche concert
series, Torino, Italy
contemporary music by Cacioppo, Hudson, Shultis
and others
May 27, 2008 -- performance of Due Canti su poesia di Claudio Saltarelli
by the
Duo Alterno at the Alba Music Festival, Italy
May 24, 2008 –- premiere
of Due Canti su poesia di C. Saltarelli and
performance of Notturno elidiano by the Duo
Alterno, Piacenza,
Italy, in the auditorium of the 17th century palace on Via A. Genocchi
that
is the seat of the Gruppo V. L. Strumentale Ciamp
April 29, 2008 -- American premiere of Klavierstück
by Charles Cacioppo, Curt Cacioppo, pianist
Gildenhorn Hall, Clarice Smith Center
for the
Performing Arts
University of Maryland, College Park, MD -- 8 PM
April 2, 2008 -- premiere of Preludes for solo piano by
Christopher Shultis, written for Curt Cacioppo,
Composers Symposium,
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
March 30, 2008 -- premiere of Foglie avanti
San Savino for
soprano and piano, Duo
Alterno, Composers
Symposium,
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
March 9, 2008 -- premiere of Nel
mezzo del cammin for organ, Robert
Gallagher, organist
St. David's Church, Wayne, PA -- 3 PM
March 6, 2008 – composers seminar at Peabody Conservatory, 3 – 5 PM
February 20 , 2008 -- release of new double disc
CD "Ancestral
Passage,"
live in-concert performances of
Cacioppo
chamber music by the Moscow Quartet, American Quartet and Friends
Chamber Group
February 11, 2008 – performances
and master classes at Chapman University (includes West Coast premiere
of Tucson Scherzo by
members of the Pacific Symphony, and Canti indigeni nordamericani for
a cappella chorus with the Chapman choir, Joseph Modica, Director),
additional seminars and colloquia at Long Beach City College, Orange
County High School for the Performing Arts, Pomona College, Irvine
Valley College, and interview on KOCE-TV
February 7, 8 and 9, 2008 - performances & KUSC-FM
broadcast of Crying
for Justice by the
Pacific Symphony, Carl St. Clair, Music Director,
Renée and Henry Segerstrom
Concert Hall, OC Performing Arts
Center, Costa Mesa, CA
all performances feature pre-concert talk with the composer illustrating
at the piano,
as well as post concert discussion
February 6, 2008 -- recital for the Music Teachers Association of
California, Irvine College Performing Arts Center,
5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, California
January 2008 -- completion of Philadelphia
Diary for piano, commissioned
by the
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society (premire TBA)
December 4, 2007 at
7 PM – Asian premiere
of Capriccio
pellicano,
Munetsugu Hall, Nagoya, Japan; program also includes
music of Luzko, Szaran,
Baratello,
Hirata and Mizuno
Saturday, November 10, 2007 at
8:00 PM - performance of Impressioni venexiane by the
Quartetto di Venezia, Haverford
College, Founders Great Hall, 8 PM
Tuesday, November 6, 2007 at
8:30 PM in the Gran Teatro "La Fenice" in Venice,
Sale Apollinee - Festival
Ex Novo Musica 2007 - premiere of Tucson
Scherzo in the "Pierrot" version for flute, clarinet,
violin, cello &
piano
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - performance
of Snake Dance Trio (Soyohim Kachina)
with
the Dolce
Suono Trio (listed below) will be repeated on the Music
and Conversation series at
Haverford College in Roberts Hall, Marshall Auditorium, 4:15 PM.
October 10, 2007
- performance
of Snake Dance Trio (Soyohim Kachina) for
flute, cello and piano,
with the Dolce Suono Trio, featuring flutist Mimi Stillman, cellist
Yumi Kendall, and
pianist Charles Abramovic,
music of Abramovic, Crumb
and Rorem also on program,
with the composers offering a pre-concert
panel discussion at 6 PM
First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA,
7:30 PM
September 24, 2007 - performance of Prélude
ericéen by Italian flutist Andrea Ceccomori.
Program also includes music of Ingrid Arauco, Charles Cacioppo,
and others, assisted by pianist Elitza Harbova on the
Music and Conversation
series at Haverford College in Roberts Hall, Marshall Auditorium
at 4:15 PM
September 23, 2007 - preview performance of Snake
Dance Trio (Soyohim Kachina)
for flute, cello and piano, with flutist Mimi Stillman, cellist Yumi Kendall,
and pianist Charles Abramovic,
music of Abramovic, Crumb and Rorem also on program
Unitarian Universalist House, 224 W. Tulpehocken Street Philadelphia, PA, 19144,
3:00 PM
May 28, 2007- premiere of Tucson
Scherzo for
flute, strings and cembalo, at the Alba Music Festival,
Church
of San Domenico, Alba (Cuneo), Italy,
Yoshimi Oshima, flute
April 29, 2007
- Performance of Fantasy-Choruses on 'This Little Light
of Mine' by pianist
Althea Waites, Cal State Long Beach, School of Music, G.R. Daniel
Hall, 5 PM
April
22, 2007 - performance of Red Dove of Libya
by Network for New Music Ensemble
Settlement Music School, Philadelphia, PA, 3 PM
April
20, 2007 - premiere of Red Dove of Libya
by Network for New Music Ensemble
Haverford College, Roberts Hall/ Marshall Auditorium, 8 PM
March
25-28, 2007- guest composer, Composers Symposium, University
of New Mexico, Albuquerque
performance by the Del Sol Quartet of a distant voice
calling
based
on the Navajo creation story,
March
24, 2007 - premiere of Ma’ ijií
hatáál (Coyoteway) by the Moscow String
Quartet
Haverford
College, Roberts Hall/ Marshall Auditorium, 8 PM
March
9, 2007 - Philadelphia composers
concert by pianist, Matthew Bengtson
Andre
Cafe Acoustique, Chester Performing Arts Project, 8:00 pm
Works by Cacioppo, Arauco and others.
March
1, 2007 - Philadelphia composers concert by pianist Matthew
Bengtson
Rock Hall, Temple University, 1801 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia,
PA
Works of Cacioppo, Arauco and others
February
25, 2007 - performance of Sieben Thiel Lieder
with Michael Riley, bass-baritone
Andrea Clearfield Salon, Philadelphia
February
24, 2007
- Masterclass for advanced pianists at the
Wilmington Music School, Wilmington, DE, 1:30 PM
For info contact: Dawn C. Stevens, Executive Office Assistant, Settlement
Music School
Phone: 215.320.2651, fax: 215.51.0483, email: dstevens@smsmusic.org
Thursday,
February 22, 2007 - Matthew Bengtson, pianist
West Chester University Recital Hall
West Chester University School of Music
Center of Visual and Performing Art, 8:15 PM
Concert of Philadelphia composers including music of Cacioppo and
Arauco
February
2, 2007 - Performance of Prélude Ericéen
by flutist Daniele Ruggieri
"Music and Conversation" Haverford College, Roberts Hall/Marshal
Auditorium, 4 PM
January
30, 2007- Performance of Prélude Ericéen
by flutist Daniele Ruggieri
Boston University, School of Music composers forum
Activities in 2004-2006
November 26, 2006- Private performance of Tuscan Folio, Boglia VII by Marino Baratello, and music of Schumann and Brahms, Palazzo Albrizzi, S. Polo, Venezia
November
25, 2006 -Teatrino
Groggia, Venice, Italy
A program of "DEDICATIONS" - works written for & dedicated
to Curt Cacioppo, and works written by him for others – music
of Arauco, Baratello, Hagerty, Rochberg, Cacioppo’s Homage
to Diz, Glück auf! and
more
November
19, 2006 - Torino, Italy - recital on the Rive
Gauche concert series
ore 17 Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
"DEDICATIONS" program
November
7, 2006 - premiere of Prélude for
solo flute on recital by flutist Adeline Tomasone
Rock Hall, Esther Boyer College of Music, Temple University
corner of Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
7:30 PM
October
21, 2006 - Curt Cacioppo, Pianist, Guest Artist Recital
"DEDICATIONS" works by Luzko, Baratello, Cacioppo and others
Irvine College, IVC Student Services Center Lobby
5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, California, 92618, 7:30 pm
$15.00 general & $10.00 students w/ID and
seniors 55 and older
For more information: (949) 451-5488
October
18, 2006 - performance of "DEDICATIONS" program
Villa Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA, 8 p.m.
October
16, 2006 - performance of "DEDICATIONS" program
California State University Long Beach, Gerald R. Daniel Hall, University
Music Building
sponsored by the Departments of Piano and Composition, School of
Music, 7:30 pm
September
28, 2006 - Music and Conversation: preview performances
of new works by Ingrid Arauco and Venetian composer Marino Baratello
MacCrate Recital Hall, Union Building, Haverford College, 4 PM
May
2006 - MSR
Classics MS 1173 "Burning with the Muse",
vocal music by Curt Cacioppo and Joseph
Hudson, includes Poems
from Paternina, featuring soprano Leah Inger, Sieben
Thiel Lieder, featuring Michael Riley, bass baritone;
and Franciscan Prayer,
featuring Mr. Riley, David
Bilger (principal trumpet, Philadelphia Orchestra) and Anthony
Orlando (percussionist, Philadelphia Orchestra)
"...eloquent settings, profoundly
sympathetic...perceptive and sensitive..." -- Music Web International
"...quite lovely, and the settings are imbued with restraint and dignity,
humility even...rich harmony and long leisurely melodies suggest a strong identification
with the German art song tradition." -- American Record Guide
"...exciting..." -- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Wednesday,
March 1, 2006, 7:30 pm,
Performance of Old Petitions, Cholehna
Weaver, pianist
Rock Hall, Esther Boyer College of Music, Temple University
corner of Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Broad Street, Philadelphia,
PA
Saturday,
February 25 (2006), 7:30 PM at the Terrace Theater,
Kennedy Center
Left Bank Concert Society with Colette
Valentine, pianist – Washington, D.C. premiere of Contrapuntal
Fantasy on John Newton’s “Amazing Grace” Celebrating
Black History Month
November 20, 2005, Recital with Jonathan Blumenfeld (oboist, Philadelphia Orchestra) – music of Bach, Schumann, Hindemith
November
20, 2005, 8:00 pm, Performance of Faust
Narrative No. 1
by Robert Frankenberry, piano and Roger Zahab, violin
Thanksgiving for Music, Intimate Music in Highland Square - IV
Church of Our Saviour, 471 Crosby Street at Oakdale, Akron, OH 44302
October 9, 2004 at the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg, Germany
October 13, 2004 at the Folkwang Musik Hochschule in Duisburg, Germany
October 22, 2004 at the Teatrino Groggia in Venice, Italy
October 23, 2004 at the Università degli Studi,
Aula Magna, in Trieste, Italy
Festival of Contemporary Music "Trieste Prima"
October 25, 2004 at the Sala CEPU in Treviso, Italy (Veneto)
Festival of Contemporary Music "Finestre sul '900"
October 29, 2004 at the Teatro Cimarosa in Aversa,
Italy (Naples)
"Europe Cimarosa Festival"
January
27, 2005 at 4:15 pm in MacCrate Recital Hall, Haverford College,
PA
Music and Conversation Series: Curt Cacioppo shares his music and insights
relating to his recent concerts in France, Germany and Italy
February
20, 2005 at 4:00 pm in Marshall Auditorium at Haverford College,
PA
Performing Homage to Diz and other works on New Music Recital
by pianist Matt Bengtson
Program
may also be heard on February 15 at 7:00 pm at the University of the
Arts at
the Arts Bank, 250 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
March
5, 2005 - Sanibel, FL
Impressioni venexiane performed by the Quartetto di Venezia
March 7, 2005 Providence, RI
Impressioni venexiane performed by the Quartetto di Venezia
March
8, 2005 Cranbrook Chamber Music Series, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Impressioni venexiane performed by the Quartetto di Venezia
March 9, 2005 Queens University, Kingston, Ontario
CANADA
Canadian premiere of Impressioni venexiane performed by the
Quartetto di Venezia
March
10, 2005 at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts,
Toronto, Ontario Canada
Impressioni venexiane performed by the Quartetto di Venezia
March
11, 2005 Bates College, Lewiston, ME
Impressioni venexiane performed by the Quartetto di Venezia
Sunday,
March 13, 2005 Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Matt Bengtson, piano, Paine Hall at 4 PM
Music to include Takemitsu, Hosokawa, Berkowitz, Cacioppo, Berio, Ligeti
and more
June
17, 2005 St. Paul's Anglican Church of the West End,
Vancouver BC CANADA (604) 685-6832
Impressioni venexiane performed by the Quartetto di Venezia
June
18, 2005 Los Angeles, CA (Getty Museum)
Impressioni venexiane performed by the Quartetto di Venezia