Glenn McClure
| Glenn McClure | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1964 (age 61–62) Upstate New York |
| 💼 Occupation |
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| Known for | Eco-music; sonification; folk opera |
| 🌐 Website | artforbrains |
Glenn McClure is an American composer, educator, and speaker known for his work in eco-music and sonification—the mathematical translation of scientific data into musical composition. He has collaborated with scientists at the National Science Foundation, the European Space Agency, and the National Parks Arts Foundation, and has held faculty positions at the Eastman School of Music, SUNY Geneseo, and Paul Smith's College. His choral work St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass has been performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
Biography
McClure grew up in rural upstate New York, where he was exposed to a wide range of musical traditions, including gospel, merengue, and salsa at migrant farm camps, hymns at a local Presbyterian church, and choral music at a Trappist monastery.[1] He studied music at the Eastman School of Music as a child and went on to become a professional composer and educator.
He has served on the faculties of the Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester), SUNY Geneseo, and Paul Smith's College in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. He received the State University of New York Chancellor's Award, described as the highest honor given to adjunct lecturers in the SUNY system.[1] He also received the O'Brien Award in Part-time Teaching (2014), the Path Award for Promotion of Diversity (2013), and the Lenna Visiting Professorship at St. Bonaventure University.
McClure is a self-described severe stutterer who learned a technique in childhood that enables him to teach, address large audiences, and give TEDx talks.[2]
Musical work
Eco-music and sonification
McClure's compositional practice centers on translating scientific data—seismic readings, orbital mechanics, climate measurements—into musical scores, a process he calls sonification. He describes this as giving "a musical voice" to natural phenomena.[3]
He was awarded the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Fellowship, which took him to McMurdo Station in Antarctica for approximately 40 days to work alongside climate scientists studying the Ross Ice Shelf. His collaboration with UCSD seismologist Dr. Peter Bromirski resulted in the composition Ear to the Ice.[3][4]
McClure composed a choral work for the European Space Agency choir at the ESA Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Working with the flight dynamics team of the Rosetta Mission, he sonified orbital data from the spacecraft's comet encounter to create the piece's melodic content.[5]
He was named Artist-in-Residence at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park by the National Parks Arts Foundation (2018–19), where he spent thirty days working with park rangers, scientists, and indigenous musicians.[1]
McClure received a National Science Foundation I-Corps Grant to explore commercial applications of his sonification algorithm across industries.[5]
Choral and operatic works
St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass is among McClure's most performed choral works. Its Kyrie movement has been performed three times at Carnegie Hall and multiple times at Lincoln Center.[4] The Santo from the same work was featured in the 2005 CBS broadcast Enter the Light, a Christmas special.[6]
The Starry Messenger: An Oratorio Based on the Letters of Galileo's Daughter was created in collaboration with bestselling science writer Dava Sobel (Galileo's Daughter, 1999). The work premiered in Rochester, New York, performed by the chamber choir Madrigalia, and was featured on NPR's All Things Considered on May 20, 2006.[7]
McClure has composed two full-length operas: Imoinda, a world music opera based on a neo-slave narrative libretto by scholar Joan Anim-Addo; and Promised Land: An Adirondack Folk Opera, a voting rights opera developed with support from the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Division in partnership with Mountain Lake PBS.[5]
He has also written two children's operas: Mio Nonno Galileo (based on the life of Galileo's grandson) and Maria's Lessons (based on the work of Italian educational reformer Maria Montessori).
His choral works use multiple languages including Vietnamese, Lakota, and Nahuatl, and are published by Earthsongs and Roger Dean Publishers (Lorenz Corporation).[5]
Recent work
Totality, commissioned by Rochester chamber ensemble fivebyfive to commemorate the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse, was the lead track on their album Eclipse. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart for the week of November 8, 2024, on the Grammy-nominated Bright Shiny Things label.[6][8]
McClure served as principal investigator on the Watershed Voices project, which sonifies scientific data from the Lake Champlain Basin Program in collaboration with musicians and scientists across New York State and Quebec.[9]
Awards and fellowships
- National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Fellowship
- National Science Foundation I-Corps Grant
- National Teaching Artist Fellowship (2008–09), Kennedy Center Office of Accessibility/VSA
- National Endowment for the Arts grant, Opera Division (Promised Land)
- National Parks Arts Foundation Artist-in-Residence, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (2018–19)
- Continental Harmony Commission, American Composers Forum (two-time recipient)
- SUNY Chancellor's Award for Adjunct Teaching
- O'Brien Award in Part-time Teaching, SUNY (2014)
- Path Award for Promotion of Diversity (2013)
- Lenna Visiting Professorship, St. Bonaventure University
Selected works
- St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass (choral)
- The Starry Messenger: An Oratorio Based on the Letters of Galileo's Daughter (2006)
- Ear to the Ice (2016, sonification of Antarctic seismic data)
- Imoinda (opera, libretto by Joan Anim-Addo)
- Promised Land: An Adirondack Folk Opera
- Mio Nonno Galileo (children's opera)
- Maria's Lessons (children's opera)
- Totality (2024, commissioned by fivebyfive)
References
Sources
- "Galileo's Letters Inspire a Musical Tribute". NPR. May 20, 2006. Retrieved March 2026. Check date values in:
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- "Composer Glenn McClure Gives a Voice to the Ice". Rochester City Magazine. 21 December 2016. Retrieved March 2026. Check date values in:
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- "Composer Glenn McClure in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park". Parks & Travel Magazine. 8 January 2019. Retrieved March 2026. Check date values in:
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- "4Now #1 Program". fivebyfive. Retrieved March 2026. Check date values in:
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- "fivebyfive Chamber Ensemble Announces 2024–2025 Season". NYS Music. September 8, 2024. Retrieved March 2026. Check date values in:
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- "Music: Ear to the Ice". Jamestown Community College. Retrieved March 2026. Check date values in:
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- "Glenn McClure". AAWC Collective. Retrieved March 2026. Check date values in:
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- "About Glenn". artforbrains.com. Retrieved March 2026. Check date values in:
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External links
Category:American composers Category:American choral conductors Category:Eastman School of Music faculty Category:Living people Category:People from Geneseo, New York Category:Musicians from New York (state) Category:Paul Smith's College faculty
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