Via a release from the always informative DOTDOTDOTMusic, the American Composers Forum has announced the winner of its famed National Composition Contest: CalArts composer Todd Lerew.
Lerew, who won the 2014 gong for his work Flagging Entertainment of Ultradian Rhythms and the Consequences Thereof, will receive $2,000 in cash. Even better, his piece will be toured by Classicalite's favorite group of beaters Sō Percussion during their future seasons.
Lerew's work was commissioned by ACF alongside works by two other finalists--Michael Laurello (Yale) and Kristina Warren (University of Virginia), which were workshopped by Sō at Princeton's Summer Institute on July 20.
Lerew is based in Los Angeles and works with acoustic instruments of his own invention, mainly from repurposed and found objects. He also delves into unique preparations of traditional instruments (certainly a hallmark of Sō Percussion's performance ideology).
Lerew is the inventor of the Quartz Cantabile and founded/curator of Telephone Music, a collaborative music and memory project based on the children's game Telephone.
A sample of Lerew's approach can be heard over at his SoundCloud page.
For more information on finalists Michael Laurello and Kristina Warren, the contest itself and other interesting tidbits regarding Sō Percussion's support of new and emerging voices, do visit their website.
As for Lerew's brilliant Quartz Cantabile, you'll definitely want to check out both man and machine performing below.
