Boosey & Hawkes

Du Yun Wins Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Annual Award for Female Composers

(November 2009)

Du Yun, who joined the Boosey & Hawkes Emerging Composers program in 2008, has been awarded the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's (DSO) Fourth Annual Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Award for Female Composers.

Du Yun, who was chosen from applicants across the United States, China, Korea, Israel, Austria and the United Kingdom, will compose a new work that will receive its world premiere in the DSO's 2010-2011 classical subscription series. In addition to performances of her work, Du Yun will receive a $10,000 prize and a one-month residency at the Ucross Foundation, an internationally known artist's retreat located on the High Plains in northern Wyoming. The Foundation is the DSO's new partner in recognizing and awarding exceptional female composers.

Says Du Yun, "I am very humbled by the honor of receiving the Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Award and am grateful that the DSO and its prize jury are willing to give this opportunity to an emerging composer. I am thrilled to work with the musicians at the DSO. I am, in every way, indebted to all the people, men and women, before me who have worked hard to pave the way for my generation. Hopefully, I might play a part in this, helping, as other composers, musicians and organizations have, to build a strong lineage within our time and for future generations of composers whose work is respected beyond their gender, race or creed."

Du Yun is currently involved in multiple composing projects including a work for string quartet, a dance and multimedia project with Moving Theater at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City and a multimedia collaboration with visual artist David Michalek for flutist Claire Chase. Her scores for the silent films of Alice Guy-Blaché can be viewed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City from November 2009 to January 2010. Du Yun will also be composing a chamber opera with composer Ken Ueno at The Flea Theater (NYC) in May 2010 and a score for visual artist Shahzia Sikander's film Interstitial, which will tour India, Laos, Pakistan and Japan in early 2011.

The Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Award stands alone, internationally, as the only annual symphony-sponsored award competition exclusively for women composers. It is conferred annually and is made possible by a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous. Previous winners of the Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Award include Stacy Garrop, Margaret Brouwer and Cindy McTee.

Photo credit: Denise Anderson

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