Elizabeth Walton Vercoe
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Vercoe is an American musician, music educator and composer
.
where she pursued a Masters of Music degree in composition, studying under George Wilson
, Ross Lee Finney
and Leslie Bassett
. In 1974, Vercoe entered the doctoral program in music composition at Boston University where she was mentored by composer Gardner Read
and was awarded First Prize in Music Theory and Composition and elected to Pi Kappa Lambda
, the national music honor society.
Her teaching posts have included a position teaching music theory on the faculty at Westminster Choir College
in Princeton, New Jersey, a year at Framingham State College in Massachusetts, and her current job since 1997 as an adjunct professor at Regis College.
Vercoe has won a number of national and international composition competitions and received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts
, Meet the Composer
, and the Massachusetts Arts Council. She has also received fellowships from the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris
from 1983 to 1985 for three separate residencies in France, and has been a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony
, the Charles Ives Center for American Music, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Italy. In 2003 Elizabeth Vercoe was awarded the Acuff Chair of Excellence at Austin Peay State University
for a semester residency in which she gave public lectures, coached performances of her music, and was commissioned to write new work.
Notable performances include those by the Memphis Chamber Orchestra, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, the Women's Philharmonic, the Aeolian Chamber Players, the New York Virtuoso Singers, Alea III, and the Great Noise Ensemble, and at such venues as the Amalfi Coast Festival, the Goethe Institute in Bangkok, the Marblehead Festival, the Svenska Mandolinfestivalen, Carnegie Recital Hall, the Salle Cortot, IRCAM, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Abraham Goodman House and Merkin Hall.
Her recorded music is issued on the Owl, Capstone, Leonarda and Centaur labels, and she is published by Arsis Press and Plucked String Editions.
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...
.
Biography
Born in Washington, D.C., Elizabeth Vercoe grew up in a musical family and studied piano and violin while attending the National Cathedral School. From 1958 to 1962, she studied music theory at Wellesley College where she was awarded the Hubert Weldon Lamb Prize in Composition. Following college, Vercoe began graduate school at the University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
where she pursued a Masters of Music degree in composition, studying under George Wilson
George Wilson
-Arts and entertainment:* George Wilson , British actor* George Balch Wilson , American composer, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan* George Washington Wilson , pioneering Scottish photographer...
, Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney Junior was an American composer born in Wells, Minnesota who taught for many years at the University of Michigan. He studied with Nadia Boulanger, Edward Burlingame Hill, Alban Berg and Roger Sessions...
and Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett is an American composer of classical music, and the University of Michigan’s Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition...
. In 1974, Vercoe entered the doctoral program in music composition at Boston University where she was mentored by composer Gardner Read
Gardner Read
Gardner Read was an American composer and musical scholar....
and was awarded First Prize in Music Theory and Composition and elected to Pi Kappa Lambda
Pi Kappa Lambda
Pi Kappa Lambda is an American honor society for undergraduate students, graduate students, and professors of music. There are currently 205 active chapters and approximately 64,500 individual members....
, the national music honor society.
Her teaching posts have included a position teaching music theory on the faculty at Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College is a residential college of music, part of Rider University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Westminster Choir College educates men and women at the undergraduate and graduate levels for musical careers in music education, voice performance, piano...
in Princeton, New Jersey, a year at Framingham State College in Massachusetts, and her current job since 1997 as an adjunct professor at Regis College.
Vercoe has won a number of national and international composition competitions and received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer is an American organization founded in 1974 by the composer John Duffy as a project of the New York State Council on the Arts. It seeks to assist composers in making a living through writing music by sponsoring commissioning, residency, education, and audience interaction...
, and the Massachusetts Arts Council. She has also received fellowships from the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
from 1983 to 1985 for three separate residencies in France, and has been a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, the Charles Ives Center for American Music, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Italy. In 2003 Elizabeth Vercoe was awarded the Acuff Chair of Excellence at Austin Peay State University
Austin Peay State University
Austin Peay State University is a four-year public university located in Clarksville, Tennessee, and operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools .-History:...
for a semester residency in which she gave public lectures, coached performances of her music, and was commissioned to write new work.
Notable performances include those by the Memphis Chamber Orchestra, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, the Women's Philharmonic, the Aeolian Chamber Players, the New York Virtuoso Singers, Alea III, and the Great Noise Ensemble, and at such venues as the Amalfi Coast Festival, the Goethe Institute in Bangkok, the Marblehead Festival, the Svenska Mandolinfestivalen, Carnegie Recital Hall, the Salle Cortot, IRCAM, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Abraham Goodman House and Merkin Hall.
Her recorded music is issued on the Owl, Capstone, Leonarda and Centaur labels, and she is published by Arsis Press and Plucked String Editions.
Works
Selected works include:- A Dangerous Man (staged monodrama for baritone and piano) 1990
- A la fin-tout seul (for mandolin and optional piano) 1985
- American Fancy (for two pianos) 2000
- Butterfly Effects (for flute and harp) 2008-9
- Changes: A Little Music for Mozart (for chamber orchestra) 1991
- Despite our differences #1 (for violin, cello and piano) 1984
- Despite our differences #2 (for piano and chamber orchestra) 1988
- Eight Riddles from Symphosius (for contralto & piano) 1964
- Elegy (for viola and piano) 1989
- Fantasy (for piano) 1975
- Fantavia (for flute and percussion) 1982
- Four Humors (for clarinet and piano) 1992
- Five Inventions (for horn and piano) 2005
- Five True Remarkable Occurrences (for mezzo & guitar) 2008
- God Be in My Head (for women’s or mixed chorus & keyboard) 1995
- Herstory I (for soprano, piano & vibraphone) 1975
- Herstory II: 13 Japanese Lyrics (for soprano, piano & percussion) 1979
- Herstory III: Jehanne de Lorraine (for mezzo or soprano & piano) 1986
- Herstory IV (for mezzo or soprano & mandolin or marimba) 1997
- In the Storm (for mezzo-soprano, clarinet & piano) 1989
- Irreveries from Sappho (for mezzo or soprano & piano) 1981
- Irreveries from Sappho (for SSA chorus & piano) 1985
- Irreveries from Sappho (duet for soprano, mezzo-soprano & piano) 1985[?]
- Kleemation (for flute and piano) 2003
- Nine Epigrams from Poor Richard (for voice & tape) 1986
- Rhapsody (for violin and orchestra) 1977
- Sonaria (for solo cello) 1980
- To Music (for solo flute) 2003
- This is my letter to the World (for voice, flute & piano) 2001
- Umbrian Suite (for 4 hands or 2 pianos) 1999
- Varieties of Amorous Experience (for soprano & piano) 1994