Kurt Rohde

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Kurt Rohde
Born	1966 (age 57–58) New York City, NY, U.S.
Genres	Contemporary classical
Occupation(s)	Composer, Violist, Educator
Instruments	Viola
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Mondovibe, Innova Recordings, Albany Records
Website	www.kurtrohde.com

Kurt Rohde (born 1966) is an American composer, violist, and educator. He currently lives in San Francisco, California..

Biography

Kurt Rohde was born and raised in New York City. He began studying the violin at an early age and later switched to the viola. Rohde studied at the conservatory at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, the Curtis Institute of Music, and Stony Brook University.

Rohde is a Professor of Music at University of California, Davis, where he has been a faculty member since 2006. His students have gone on to teach at institutions such as the Berklee College of Music, Chapman University, California State University, Sacramento, Smith College, Yale School of Music, and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. He was also the Artistic Advisor of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Artistic Director of the Composers Conference, and Curator of the Center for New Music.

In addition to his solo viola performance career and commissioning initiative, he has performed with groups such as Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (1992-2023) and New Century Chamber Orchestra (1994-2014)

Initiatives

Kurt Rohde has led two significant initiatives to create opportunities for underrepresented composers:

• The "Kurt Rohde Emerging Composers Fund" is a commissioning project that supports composers in the early stages of their professional creative lives by providing them the opportunity to create a new work alongside the performers of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble through workshops, public rehearsals, reviews, and numerous performances. The goal is to facilitate a lasting relationship between the composer and performers that continues beyond the commissioning project.
• The "Kurt Rohde Farewell Tour - PARTS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6" is another commissioning project aimed at underappreciated creative voices in the new music community. By commissioning 5 to 6 composers for each part of the project to compose works for solo viola, viola and piano, or viola and electronics, Rohde seeks to expand the viola repertoire with new works from an extremely diverse range of composers, while addressing and possibly redefining the possibilities of what the viola is capable of in the 21st century.

Awards and Recognitions

Rohde has received numerous accolades for his contributions to music, including:

• Rome Prize: Awarded by the American Academy in Rome (2008)
• Berlin Prize: From the American Academy in Berlin (2003)
• Guggenheim Fellowship: Awarded by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1999)
• Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies: From Harvard University (2012)
• American Academy of Arts and Letters Walter Hinrichsen Award: established by the Edition Peters C. F. Peters Corporation, is given annually for the publication of a work by an American composer (2001).
• American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Prize (2005)
• American Academy of Arts and Letters Arts and Letters Award (2015)
• Creative Capital Award (2023).
• UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellowship (2012–16).
• Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship (2019).
• Fromm Prize in Music Composition (2013).
• Barlow Foundation Commission (2013).
• Meet the composer Commission Award (2011)
• First Prize, Lydian String Quartet Composition Contest (2012)
• Koussevitsky Foundation of the Library of Congress Commission Award (1998)
• National Endowment for the Arts Commission Award for Newtown Creek (2023)
• MacDowell (artists' residency and workshop) (1996, 2018)
• Copland House Residency (2014)

Discography

• "Oculus—Music for Strings": Featuring the New Century Chamber Orchestra, released on the Mondovibe label
• "ONE: Chamber Music of Kurt Rohde": Released by Innova Recordings
• "Treatises for an Unrecovered Past" and "It wasn’t a dream…": Released on Albany Records in 2019

Works

Opera

Kurt Rohde has composed several operatic works, known for their innovative approaches and engagement with contemporary issues. Here is a list of his operatic compositions:

• "Death With Interruptions": A chamber opera based on the novel by José Saramago, exploring themes of love and mortality.
• "Newtown Odyssey": A floating opera in collaboration with artist Marie Lorenz and writer Dana Spiotta, addressing themes of climate change and environmental justice. This work was made possible with support from Creative Capital and the NEA.
• "4:30 Movie": A micro-opera based on poems by Donna Masini, created with support from the NEA and the San Francisco Arts Commission.
• "Power is Everywhere": For soprano and small ensemble, featuring texts by Michel Foucault, composed in 2017.
• "Never was a knight...": For solo tenor and ensemble, composed in 2016–2017, created for tenor Joe Dan Harper in collaboration with artists David Humphrey and Jennifer Coates.

Orchestra

• DoubleFrankinTroubleStein for two amplified violas and orchestra (2011)
• Bis Bald a fanfare for orchestra (2008)
• Maxwell’s Silver Hammer for string orchestra (2002)
• Sun King for string orchestra (2002)
• Strong Motion for chamber orchestra (2002)
• Five Pieces for Orchestra (1999-2000)
• Oculus for string orchestra (1999)

Vocal

• (Water Lilies Floating) (after Donna Masini) for amplified solo voice & electronics (2022)
  • Water Lilies 8 (after Donna Masini) for amplified solo voice & electronics (2022)
  • Water Lilies 7 (after Donna Masini) for amplified solo voice & electronics (2022)
  • Water Lilies 6 (after Donna Masini) for amplified solo voice & electronics (2021)
  • Water Lilies 5 (after Donna Masini) for amplified solo voice & electronics (2021)
  • Water Lilies 4 (after Donna Masini) for amplified solo voice & electronics (2022)
  • Water Lilies 3 (after Donna Masini) for amplified solo voice & electronics (2021)
  • Water Lilies 2 (after Donna Masini) for amplified solo voice & electronics (2021)
  • Water Lilies 1 (after Donna Masini) for amplified solo voice & electronics (2021)
• It wasn’t a dream… for soprano, tenor and piano four-hands on texts of Diane Seuss (2018)
• Three Scented Candles for soprano and piano, on texts of Scott Hunter (2018)
• to sing for solo soprano and electronics (2018/rev. 2020/rev. 2023)
• power is everywhere an observed distraction for soprano and small ensemble on texts of Foucault for soprano and small ensemble (2017)
• Never was a knight... for solo tenor and ensemble (2016–17)
• No Time To Hate for soprano and piano (2016)
• Three Minutes with Ned for tenor and piano (2013–14)
• Endless for chorus a capella (2007)
• Bitter Harvest an oratorio (2002–05)

Solo

• e(k)/(c)ho, for solo double bass
• Query - by Paul Mann - for solo piano (2021)
• I Hoisted Them, Two Narcs - by Diane Seuss - for solo piano (2021)
• I Hope When It Happens - by Diane Seuss for solo piano (2021)
• (Water Lilies Floating) - by Donna Masini - for solo piano (2021)
• Prelude for solo piano (2020)
• Lumpy Puddings for solo piano (2019-20)
• Circular/reveal for solo piano (2018-2022)
• No time an étude (too brief) for solo piano (2020)
• Trotsky’s Icepick (a meditation) for solo piano (2018/rev. 2019)
• Oracle Reach for solo viola (2018)
• Original Fables from Famous Last Words by Paul Mann for a speaking keyboard and assorted items (2017/rev. 2020-21)
• Petrified Credo for solo cello (2016/rev. 2018/rev. 2020/rev. 2022/rev. 2023)
• ONE for a speaking pianist on poems by Paul Mann (2009)

Chamber Music

• La Commedia, a concerto grosso, destroyed and reassembled (ongoing)
• Three Whisper Canons and a Palimpsest, for soprano and double bass (2024)
• Seeking all that's still unsung, for string quartet (2024) This work was made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, with generous funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
• The Hardest Folk Songs Ever Written, for a large ensemble (2023)
• The Future is Finite, for wind quintet and double bass (2021)
• Sonic Tunic, a remix after "Tunic (Song For Karen)" by Kim Gordon and Sonic Youth for violin and vibraphone (2021)
• A Tree That Exists in Silence (from The Overstory) for 3 to 5 voices (2021)
• Blue, a remix of Joni Mitchell for alto flute, violin, viola, and cello (2020)
• Ave, a remix of Hildegard von Bingen for alto flute, violin, viola, and cello (2020)

Video

• [lost] In The Woods an immersive installation in collaboration with artist Shelley Jordon (2013–2014)
• This Is How It Works for recorded electronics and video (2013)
• Artifacts a rendering for narrator, small ensemble and projected images (2012)
• Terremoto (2010)
• Anita’s Journey (2009)

Electronics

• gyre…tone a work for multi-tracked bass trombone and video (2024)
• Who's There? for amplified violin and electronics (2013)
• This Is How It Works for electronics and video (2013)
• Three Decimated Bach Chorales for Electronics and Odd Quartet (2013)

References

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