Roger Bourland
Encyclopedia
Roger Bourland is an American composer, publisher, blogger, and Chair of the UCLA Department of Music.
, Bourland received a Bachelor of Music
in Music Theory and Composition (1976) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, studying with Leslie Thimmig and Randall Snyder; a Master of Music
in Music Composition (1978) from the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with William Thomas McKinley
and Donald Martino
; and a Master of Arts
and Ph.D. in Music Composition from Harvard University
, studying with Randall Thompson
, Earl Kim
and Leon Kirchner
.
Bourland studied at Tanglewood
with Gunther Schuller
and was awarded the Koussevitzky Prize in Composition (1978). Other awards include the John Knowles Paine Fellowship (Harvard), two ASCAP Grants to Young Composers, numerous Meet the Composer
s grants, and was a co-founder of the Boston-based consortium "Composers in Red Sneakers
." Bourland has composed over one hundred fifty works for all media: film, solo, instrumental, chamber, vocal and choral music, electro-acoustic music, and music for orchestra, wind ensemble, and other large ensembles.
Since 1983, Bourland has taught composition, music theory, analysis, orchestration, electro-acoustic composition, and other classes and seminars in the UCLA Department of Music. He was awarded the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award for 2005-6, and served as Chair of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Department of Music from 2007 to 2011.
(For large-scale choral works, see Cantatas below)
Biography
Born in Evanston, IllinoisEvanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, Bourland received a Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
in Music Theory and Composition (1976) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, studying with Leslie Thimmig and Randall Snyder; a Master of Music
Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...
in Music Composition (1978) from the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with William Thomas McKinley
William Thomas McKinley
William Thomas McKinley is an American composer and jazz pianist. He has written more than 300 musical compositions, many of which have been recorded by such ensembles as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony...
and Donald Martino
Donald Martino
Donald Martino was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer.Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino studied composition with Ernst Bacon, Roger Sessions, Milton Babbitt, and Luigi Dallapiccola...
; and a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
and Ph.D. in Music Composition from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, studying with Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works.-Career:He attended Harvard University, became assistant professor of music and choir director at Wellesley College, and received a doctorate in music from the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music...
, Earl Kim
Earl Kim
Earl Kim was a Korean-American composer.Kim was born in Dinuba, California, to immigrant Korean parents. He began piano studies at age ten and soon developed an interest in composition, studying in Los Angeles and Berkeley with, among others, Arnold Schoenberg, Ernest Bloch, and Roger Sessions...
and Leon Kirchner
Leon Kirchner
Leon Kirchner was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his String Quartet No. 3.Kirchner was born in Brooklyn, New York...
.
Bourland studied at Tanglewood
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops designed to provide an intense training and networking experience...
with Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
and was awarded the Koussevitzky Prize in Composition (1978). Other awards include the John Knowles Paine Fellowship (Harvard), two ASCAP Grants to Young Composers, numerous 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...
s grants, and was a co-founder of the Boston-based consortium "Composers in Red Sneakers
Composers in Red Sneakers
The Composers in Red Sneakers are a Boston-based composers collective founded in 1981. The founding members were Thomas Oboe Lee, Christopher Stowens, Robert Aldridge, Roger Bourland, Amy Reich, and Gary Philo. Concerts were given in the Old Cambridge Baptist Church and in Harvard University's...
." Bourland has composed over one hundred fifty works for all media: film, solo, instrumental, chamber, vocal and choral music, electro-acoustic music, and music for orchestra, wind ensemble, and other large ensembles.
Since 1983, Bourland has taught composition, music theory, analysis, orchestration, electro-acoustic composition, and other classes and seminars in the UCLA Department of Music. He was awarded the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award for 2005-6, and served as Chair of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Department of Music from 2007 to 2011.
Choral music
- Healy Madrigals (2009) for SSAA; poems by Eloise Klein HealyEloise Klein HealyEloise Klein Healy is an American poet. She has published five books of poetry and a chapbook. Her collection of poems, Passing, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Poetry and the Audre Lorde Lesbian Poetry Prize from The Publishing Triangle...
- Alarcón Madrigals, Book 3 (2006) for SSAA; poems by Francisco X. AlarcónFrancisco X. AlarcónFrancisco Xavier Alarcón is an American poet and educator.-Life:He moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, when he was 6...
- A More Perfect Union (2005) for TTBB and piano; lyrics by Philip Littell
- Alarcón Madrigals, Book 2 (2002) for SSAA; poems by Francisco X. AlarcónFrancisco X. AlarcónFrancisco Xavier Alarcón is an American poet and educator.-Life:He moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, when he was 6...
- Keeping the Ocean Free (2000) for SATB and piano; lyrics by William MacDuff
- Spiritual Gifts (2000) for SATB and organ; lyrics by Roger Bourland
- Fa La La (Blah, Blah, Blah) (1998) for TTBB, SATB, or SSAA and piano; lyrics by William MacDuff
- Look Behind our Song (1996) for TTBB, and piano; lyrics by John Hall
- The Acts of Love (1995) for men’s chorus; poem by Michael J. Lafferty
- Alarcón Madrigals, Book 1 (1993) for SSAA or SATB; poems by Francisco X. AlarcónFrancisco X. AlarcónFrancisco Xavier Alarcón is an American poet and educator.-Life:He moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, when he was 6...
- All there is is love (1993) for TTBB; text by Paul MonettePaul MonettePaul Landry Monette was an American author, poet, and activist best remembered for his essays about gay relationships.-Biography:...
- The Son of God Was Singing (1987) for SATB and organ or piano; lyrics by Roger Bourland
- Christmas Introit (1987) for SATB and organ or piano; lyrics by Roger Bourland
- Dickinson Madrigals, Book 3 (1985) for TTBB; poems by Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
- Psalm 47 (1983) for SATB
- His Spirit Lives (1983) for SATB; poem by Amos Niven WilderAmos WilderAmos Niven Wilder was an American poet, minister, and theology professor.-Life:He studied two years at Oberlin College , but volunteered in the Ambulance Field Service; he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. In November 1917, he enlisted in the U.S...
- Antiphon (1983) for SATB; poem by George HerbertGeorge HerbertGeorge Herbert was a Welsh born English poet, orator and Anglican priest.Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education that led to his holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in...
- Dickinson Madrigals, Book 2 (1983) for SSAA; poems by Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
- Dickinson Madrigals, Book 1 (1980) for SSAA; poems by Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
- Twelve New Hymns (1980) for SATB; lyrics by Gary Bachlund
- Garden Abstract (1976) for SSSAAA (2 sopranos, 2 mezzo sopranos, 2 altos); poem by Hart CraneHart Crane-Career:Throughout the early 1920s, small but well-respected literary magazines published some of Crane’s lyrics, gaining him, among the avant-garde, a respect that White Buildings , his first volume, ratified and strengthened...
- Three Clouds (1975) for mixed chorus; lyrics by Roger Bourland
(For large-scale choral works, see Cantatas below)
Chamber music
- Four Poets (2005) for string quartet
- Emily (2005) for string quartet, bass, and banjo
- Four Painters (2001) for violin, viola, cello, piano
- Stories We Tell (1998) for four cellos
- American Baroque (1992) for violin, cello, piano
- Three Arias (1989) for viola or cello and piano
- Recent Dreams (1989) for horn, violin, piano
- Aesop, the Peasant (1987) for speaker, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano; texts by V.A. Kolve
- Serenade No.2: Paintings (1986) for violin, cello, piano, flute, clarinet in Bb
- Saxophone Quintet (1984) for soprano saxophone, string quartet
- Montana Suite (1984) for string quartet
- Dances from the Sacred Harp (1983) for flute, alto fl. in G, piccolo, clarinet in Bb, piano, violin, viola, cello, percussion
- Nostos” (1982) for flute, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone
- Stone Quartet (1982) for soprano sax, viola, cello, and piano
- Cantilena (1981) for flute, soprano sax, or clarinet in Bb and organ
- Three Dark Paintings (1981) for strings, soprano sax, viola and piano
- The Death of Narcissus (1980) for piano, strings, and wind ensemble
- Beowulf Trio (1979) for flute, violin, cello
- Personae (1978) for cello, bass (in solo tuning)
- Seven Pollock Paintings (1978) for flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, tam tam, violin, viola, cello, bass
Orchestra, Chamber orchestra, Wind ensemble
- Poem (2006) for piano and orchestra
- The Night Train (2004) for marimba, tom-toms, violin, viola, violoncello, double bass, flute and alto flute, harp, and strings
- Trauermusik (2003) for wind ensemble (By W.A Mozart, orchestrated by Roger Bourland)
- Ozma (1996) for orchestra; orchestration for wind ensemble (2003)
- Mirabell Jam (1992) for orchestra
- Rivers in the Sky (1988) for wind ensemble
- Scenes from Gauguin (1987) for orchestra
- Broken Arrows (1986) for EVI and EWI instruments designed by Nyle SteinerEWIEWI is the name of AKAI's wind controller, an electronic musical instrument invented by Nyle Steiner. The early models consisted of two parts: a wind controller and a synthesizer. The current model, EWI4000S, combines the two parts into one, placing the synthesizer in the lower section of the...
(EVI), four Yamaha DX7s, and jazz ensemble - Serenade No.1: Far in the Night (1983) for soprano saxophone, bassoon, harp, and strings
- Cantilena (1983) for string orchestra
- Scenes from Redon (1982) for orchestra
- Sweet Alchemy (1980) for orchestra
- Clarinet Rhapsody (1979) for clarinet and orchestra
- Jackson Pollock in Memoriam (1978) for orchestra
Cantatas
- The Crocodile's Christmas Ball and other odd tales (2002) for chorus, soloists and wind ensemble; lyrics by William MacDuff
- Rosarium (1999) for soloists, chorus and orchestra; libretto by William MacDuff
- Flashpoint/Stonewall (1994) for chorus, soloists, four synthesizers, bass and drums; libretto by John Hall
- Letters to the Future (1993) for chorus, soloists, three synthesizers, bass and drums; poems by Francisco X. AlarcónFrancisco X. AlarcónFrancisco Xavier Alarcón is an American poet and educator.-Life:He moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, when he was 6...
, May SwensonMay SwensonAnna Thilda May "May" Swenson was an American poet and playwright...
, Adrienne RichAdrienne RichAdrienne Cecile Rich is an American poet, essayist and feminist. She has been called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century."-Early life:...
, Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, James MerrillJames MerrillJames Ingram Merrill was an American poet whose awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Divine Comedies...
, J. D. McClatchy and Thom GunnThom GunnThom Gunn, born Thomson William Gunn , was an Anglo-American poet who was praised both for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement and his later poetry in America, even after moving toward a looser, free-verse style... - Hidden Legacies (1992) for chorus, soloists, four synthesizers, bass and drums; libretto by John Hall
Songs
- Four Marian Songs (2006) for voice and piano; poems by William MacDuff
- Four Xmas Songs (2006) for voice and piano; poems by William MacDuff
- Four Apart-Songs (2005) for voice and piano; poems by Roger Bourland, William MacDuff, Francisco X. AlarcónFrancisco X. AlarcónFrancisco Xavier Alarcón is an American poet and educator.-Life:He moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, when he was 6...
, and James Patrick Kelly - Four EndSongs (2003) for voice and piano; poems by Emily Dickinson, Thom Gunn, Allen Ginsberg, and Francisco X. AlarcónFrancisco X. AlarcónFrancisco Xavier Alarcón is an American poet and educator.-Life:He moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, when he was 6...
Keyboard music
- Three Impromptus (2009) for piano
- Five Miniatures (2001)
- Garlands (1998) for carillon
- St. Stephen Counterpoint (1990) for solo organ
- Morning Sonata (1985) for organ
- Ides, Book 3 (1977) for piano
- Ides, Book 2 (1975) for piano
- Preludes, Book 1 (1974) for piano
- Ides, Book 1 (1974) for piano
Opera, Musical Theater
- Homer in Cyberspace (2009) Book and lyrics by Mel ShapiroMel ShapiroMel Shapiro is an American theatre director and writer, college professor, and author.Trained at Carnegie-Mellon University, Shapiro began his professional directing career at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and then as resident director at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C....
(music theater) - Flight into Egypt (2007) playlet by Thornton WilderThornton WilderThornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
Film Music
- Possum Death Spree Episodes I, 2, and 3 (2007-8) Directors: Mike Horowitz, Gareth Smith; AtomFilms
- Cages (2007) Director: Graham StreeterGraham StreeterGraham Streeter is an American film director and screenwriter.Streeter was raised in northern California until high school. He lived in Osaka, Japan for 10 years while working in television and production, then returned to the United States and attended California State University, Sacramento...
; Hallmark Films - Doppelgänger (2003) Director: Mike Horowitz; HBO Video
- Out of Trust (2000) Director: Eddie Siebert
- Luce, Tempo, Roma (2000) Director: Cameron McNall
- Voices from Sandover (1990) Director: Joan DarlingJoan DarlingJoan Darling is an actress, film and television director and a dramatic arts instructor.Joan "Joni" Kugell began her career with the New York improvisational theater troupe "Premise Players", and soon graduated to off-Broadway and Broadway productions. She gravitated to feature films and...
- Night Life (1987) Director: David AcombaDavid AcombaDavid Acomba is a television and film producer/director. His television programs have been featured on CBS, ABC, PBS, CBC, CTV, BBC, Channel 4, Showtime and HBO.-Biography:...
; RCA/Columbia - Wolf at the Door (Oviri) (1987) Director: Henning CarlsenHenning CarlsenHenning Carlsen is a Danish film director, screenwriter, and producer most noted for his documentaries and his contributions to the style of Cinéma vérité. Carlsen's 1966 social-realistic drama Hunger was nominated for the Palme D'Or and won the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film...
; Fox Pictures - The Trouble with Dick (1986) Director: Gary WalkowGary Walkow-Filmography:As film director* Crashing * Beat * Notes from Underground * The Trouble with Dick He has no relation to Gary Fialkow.-External links:* - Official website...