Biography

DAVID  FELDER has long been recognized as a leader in his generation of American composers.  His works  have been featured at many of the leading international festivals for new music including Holland, Huddersfield, Darmstadt, Ars Electronica, Brussels, ISCM, North American New Music, Geneva, Ravinia, Aspen, Tanglewood, Music Factory, Bourges, Vienna Modern, IRCAM,  Ars Musica, and many others,  and earns continuing recognition through performance and commissioning programs by such organizations as the New York New Music Ensemble, Arditti Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, American Brass Quintet, and many others.  Felder’s work has been broadly characterized by its highly energetic profile, through its frequent employment of technological extension and elaboration of musical materials (including his “Crossfire” video series), and its lyrical qualities.

Felder has received numerous grants and commissions including many awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, two New York State Council Commissions, a New York  Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Guggenheim, Koussevitzky, two Fromm Foundation Fellowships, two  awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, Meet the Composer “New Residencies”  (1993-1996) with the Buffalo Philharmonic, two commissions from the Mary Flagler Cary Trust, and many  more. Recent commissioned works include: a second quartet, "stuck-stuecke", for the Arditti Quartet (2007), commissioned by the Siemens Foundation; "Chashmal"  for bass voice, with electronics, and video by Elliot Caplan  (2006-7) for a consortium of European festivals, "So Quiet Here", an electronic work dedicated to poet Robert Creeley and commissioned by the Capen Chair in 2006 "Sa'arah", part 2 of the cycle for Isherwood, electronics and image, commissioned by the Argosy Fund, "Black Fire / White Fire", part 3 of the same project, commissioned by a consortium of presenters worldwide; and "Insomnia", a work for bass voice, and percussion commissioned by the “Works and Process” Series at the Guggenheim Museum. Current commissions include “rare air”, for Jean Kopperud and Steve Gosling (2008-9), a work for the Manhattan Sinfonietta with electronics (2010), a work for soprano Laura Aikin, bass Ethan Hirschenfeld, large chamber orchestra and electronics on texts of Neruda, Creeley  and Daumal, (2010-11), and a large project with videomaker Elliot Caplan, “History of Light” for large ensembles and electronics with image (2010-12).

Currently, Felder is Birge-Cary Chair in Composition at SUNY Buffalo, and has been Artistic Director of  the “June in Buffalo” Festival from 1985 to the present. Since 2006, he has been Director of the Center for 21st Century Music at the University.  From 1992 to 1996 he was Meet the Composer "New Residencies", Composer-in-Residence to the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and WBFO-FM. In 1996, he formed the professional chamber orchestra, the Slee Sinfonietta, and has been Artistic Director since that time. In 2008, he was named SUNY Distinguished Professor, the first such Professorship in the history of the University at Buffalo Music Department. He has taught previously at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of California, San Diego, and California State University, Long Beach, and earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, in 1983.  His works are published by Theodore Presser, and a first full CD of his work   was released to international acclaim (including “disc of the year” in chamber music from both the American Record Guide and BBC Music Magazine) on the Bridge label (Bridge #0049) during 1996. A second disc containing orchestral work was released by Mode Records  (Mode #89; “Editor’s Best of the Year” selection, Fanfare Magazine, 2002) in Spring, 2000, and EMF #033 was released in July, 2001, containing premiere recordings of orchestral  works  by Morton Feldman and David Felder  (two works for each composer) to very enthusiastic critical review. A fourth double full length set of DVD-5.1 surround recordings of his music featuring works with electronics is in final preparation and will be released in 2009.

photos by Irene Haupt
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