Eleanor Hovda
Encyclopedia
Eleanor Hovda was a composer
and dancer from the United States of America. She was born in Duluth, Minnesota and died in Springdale, Arkansas.
She received her Bachelors of Arts in music at American University
in Washington D.C. and her MFA in dance at Sarah Lawrence College
. Her music has been performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad by ensembles including the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, KlangForum
(Vienna), the Cassatt
and Kronos Quartet
s, Zeitgeist, Bang on a Can
All-Stars, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
, the Boston Musica Viva
, The California Ear Unit, the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet
and the St. Louis Symphony. Performance venues have included Ozawa Hall (Tanglewood), Alice Tully, Carnegie Hall Weill, Miller, Walter Reade and Merkin Concert Halls; The Kitchen, Bang on a Can Festival and The Alternative Museum
(NYC) the Purcell Room
(London), The American Academy
(Rome), the American Center (Paris), the WDR
(Cologne), Cervantino Festival
(Mexico), New Music Forum (Mexico City), Holland Festival
(Amsterdam), Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Tokyo and Asahikawa (Japan); colleges and universities including Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Swarthmore; The Walker Art Center
(Minneapolis), and New Music America
. Remote, a collaboration with Baryshnikov
's White Oak Dance Project
, toured nationally and made its NYC premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
in 1997.
Hovda held appointments as full professor/composer-in-residence on the music faculties of Princeton and Yale universities, and Bard College. Music and dance appointments include residencies at Sarah Lawrence College
, Wesleyan University
, the College of St. Scholastica and the American Dance Festival
.
Her music has been recorded by the ensemble Relâche
. Two CDs devoted exclusively to her compositions have been released on OO Discs: Coastal Traces and Ariadne Music.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and dancer from the United States of America. She was born in Duluth, Minnesota and died in Springdale, Arkansas.
She received her Bachelors of Arts in music at American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
in Washington D.C. and her MFA in dance at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
. Her music has been performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad by ensembles including the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, KlangForum
Klangforum Wien
The Klangforum Wien is an Austrian chamber orchestra, based in Vienna at the Konzerthaus, which specialises in contemporary classical music.Founded by composer and conductor Beat Furrer in 1985, it is run on collective principles, having no official principal conductor. Sylvain Cambreling is...
(Vienna), the Cassatt
Cassatt Quartet
The Cassatt String Quartet was founded in 1985. Originally the first participants in Juilliard's Young Artists Quartet Program, the Quartet has gone on to win many teaching fellowships and awards and has toured internationally...
and Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...
s, Zeitgeist, Bang on a Can
Bang on a Can
Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted classical music organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon...
All-Stars, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players is an ensemble of classically trained instrumentalists that commissions, performs, and records innovative new music, including music that integrates electronic and acoustic sounds.-History:...
, the Boston Musica Viva
Boston Musica Viva
Boston Musica Viva is a Boston, Massachusetts-based music ensemble founded by its Music Director, Richard Pittman, in 1969 and dedicated to contemporary music.-Composers and compositions:...
, The California Ear Unit, the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet
Minneapolis Guitar Quartet
The Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, founded in 1986, is regarded as one of North America's leading guitar ensembles. They have several recordings under the Albany Records label. Their first two albums were New Works for Guitar Quartet and Over Land and Sea. [citation - Soundboard Magazine]Some of the...
and the St. Louis Symphony. Performance venues have included Ozawa Hall (Tanglewood), Alice Tully, Carnegie Hall Weill, Miller, Walter Reade and Merkin Concert Halls; The Kitchen, Bang on a Can Festival and The Alternative Museum
The Alternative Museum
The Alternative Museum was founded in 1975 by artists for artists and the broader New York City community in the United States. Its primary purpose was to present works of art created by artists of conscience through exhibitions of contemporary art, world music concerts, performances and panel...
(NYC) the Purcell Room
Purcell Room
The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats....
(London), The American Academy
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome.- History :In 1893, a group of American architects, painters and sculptors met regularly while planning the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
(Rome), the American Center (Paris), the WDR
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
(Cologne), Cervantino Festival
Festival Internacional Cervantino
The Festival Internacional Cervantino takes place each fall in the city of Guanajuato, located in central Mexico. This is a small colonial-era city with history of having a large cultural scene. The origins of the festival are from the mid 20th century, when short plays by Miguel de Cervantes...
(Mexico), New Music Forum (Mexico City), Holland Festival
Holland Festival
The Holland Festival is The Netherlands' oldest and largest performing arts festival, and takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theater, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and architecture were added to the festival roster...
(Amsterdam), Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Tokyo and Asahikawa (Japan); colleges and universities including Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Swarthmore; The Walker Art Center
Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
(Minneapolis), and New Music America
New Music America
New Music America was an American festival of experimental or Downtown new music.The festival began at The Kitchen in New York City in 1979. In this first year, the festival was actually called New Music New York....
. Remote, a collaboration with Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
's White Oak Dance Project
White Oak Dance Project
The White Oak Dance Project was a dance company founded in 1990 by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris to be the touring arm of the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation....
, toured nationally and made its NYC premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
in 1997.
Hovda held appointments as full professor/composer-in-residence on the music faculties of Princeton and Yale universities, and Bard College. Music and dance appointments include residencies at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
, Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, the College of St. Scholastica and the American Dance Festival
American Dance Festival
The American Dance Festival is a six and four-week school for dance and a six-week summer festival of modern dance performances, currently held at Duke University and the Durham Performing Arts Center in Durham, North Carolina....
.
Her music has been recorded by the ensemble Relâche
Relâche (musical group)
Relâche is an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the group was formed as a composer-performer collective by Joseph Franklin and Joseph Showalter in 1977 and was officially granted not-for-profit status in...
. Two CDs devoted exclusively to her compositions have been released on OO Discs: Coastal Traces and Ariadne Music.
External links
- "Eleanor Hovda", Art of the States
- "Remembering Eleanor Hovda", New Music Box by Jack Vees, Published: March 24, 2010
- "Sounds Heard: Elodie Lauten—Piano Works Revisited", New Music Box by Frank J. Oteri, Published: March 8, 2010