Andrea Clearfield

Andrea Clearfield (born 1960) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. Regularly commissioned and performed by ensembles in the United States and abroad, her works include music for orchestra, chorus, soloists, chamber ensembles, dance, film and multimedia collaborations.

Andrea Clearfield
Born1960 (age 60–61)
NationalityUS
OccupationComposer

Biography

Clearfield was born on August 29, 1960 in Philadelphia, PA, and grew up in the local Main Line suburb of Bala-Cynwyd.[1] Her parents loved music and often played chamber music in the living room. Clearfield started playing piano at age 5 and later played flute and timpani in the school bands and orchestras at Cynwyd Elementary, Bala-Cynwyd Junior High and Lower Merion High School. She also played in rock, folk and world music groups. Her father is a physician and her mother a painter, and she has one brother. Clearfield took an interest to composition early on, arranging pop songs from the radio for voices, strings and percussion.[2]

Clearfield met her first "woman composer mentor," Margaret Garwood, when she attended Muhlenberg College.[2] Clearfield later went on to earn a M.M. in Piano from the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts (now the University of the Arts), and subsequently received a D.M.A. in Composition from Temple University, where her principal teacher was Maurice Wright.[3]

Clearfield is the founder and host, since 1986, of the Philadelphia Salon concert series, featuring contemporary, classical, jazz, world, electronic, multimedia, and spoken word arts.[3] A meeting place for musicians of diverse styles, she curates these events in Philadelphia and around the US.[1]

She was the featured composer for the 2014 Women Composers Festival of Hartford.[4]

In 2016, she was awarded a Pew Fellowship.[5]

Compositional style

Clearfield writes for opera, orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, dance and multimedia collaborations and has composed a number of large-scale cantatas. Her style is lyrical and rhythmically compelling, with lush harmonies and contrasting fields of texture and sound color. Her work on the Golem Psalms includes the practice of gematria which she embeds into the composition.[6] Clearfield's piece, Unremembered Wings, is based on the poetry of Pablo Neruda.[7]

Selected works

Discography
  • Convergence (CD). Bridge Records, Inc. 2015.
  • SO*LOW (CD). Bridge Records, Inc. 2014.[8]
  • Metamorphosis (CD, MP3). Innova. 2012.
  • The Poetic Oboe (CD). Crystal Records. 2004.
  • Women of Valor: Celebration of Women in Music (CD). 2000. OCLC 429339110.
  • Songs of the Wolf (CD). Crystal Records. 1996.

Chamber
  • Compass Kaleidoscope, for woodwind quintet. 2015.
  • AfterBach, for flute duo. 2014.
  • Daughter of the Sea. Angelfire Press. 2014
  • Sagitta, for flute and guitar. 2013.
  • River Melos. Brass Arts Unlimited. 2012.
  • Kawa Ma Gyur, for chamber ensemble and electronics. Angelfire Press. 2010.
  • Rhapsodie, for flute, harp, and string trio. Angelfire Press. 2008.
  • Convergence. Angelfire Press. 2008.
  • Into the Falcon's Eye: For Two Horns and Piano. JOMAR Press. 2003. OCLC 859527128.
  • Unremembered Wings. JOMAR Press. 2001.
  • Three Songs for Oboe and Double Bass: After Poems by Pablo Naruda. International Opus. 1999. OCLC 222750599.
  • Reminiscence: For English Horn and Piano. International Opus. 1998. OCLC 222750569.
  • Songs of the Wolf: For Horn and Piano. Jomar. 1994. OCLC 38032271.

Vocal
  • This Arc Towards Justice, for soprano, alto saxophone, and piano. Angelfire Press. 2013.
  • The Drift of Things; Winter Songs. Angelfire Press. 2012.
  • "Now Close the Windows". Angelfire Press. 2012
  • A reminiscence sing. Angelfire Press. 2009.
  • Farlorn Alemen Song Cycle. Angelfire Press. 2008.
  • The Rim of Love. Angelfire Press. 2005.

Choral
  • Rabsong Shar, for soprano, chamber orchestra, and electronics. Angelfire Press. 2016.
  • That Summer: A Fantasia on Family. 2015.
  • White Lotus, for treble chorus and electronics. 2015.
  • Alleluia. 2015.
  • Tse Go La (At the Threshold of This Life). See-a-dot Music Publishing Inc. 2013
  • When I am Woman. Boosey & Hawkes. 2013.
  • The Kiss. Boosey & Hawkes. 2013.
  • Poet of the Body and the Soul. Angelfire Press. 2012.
  • Our Better Angels, cantata for TTBB chorus, brass ensemble, percussion, harp and organ. 2009.
  • Dream Variations, cantata for chorus, flute, viola, harp, and organ. Angelfire Press. 2008.
  • Fire and Ice, cantata for soloists, SATB chorus, and orchestra. Angelfire Press. 2007.
  • The Golem Psalms, cantata for baritone soloist, SATB chorus, and orchestra. Angelfire Press. 2006.
  • The Long Bright, cantata for soprano soloist, children's chorus, and orchestra. Angelfire Press. 2004.
  • Nes Gadol Hayah Sham: Shades of Light. Angelfire Press. 1992.

Orchestra
  • Women of Valor. Oxford University Press. 2011.
  • Romanza. Angelfire Press. 2007.
  • Concertino for Marimba and Strings. Angelfire Press. 2004.
  • Woman of Valor. Andelfire Press. 2000.

Electronics
  • Califia. 2013.
  • Schwarzer Tod. 2011.

References
  1. Allison, Cheryl (April 2, 2015). "Composer Andrea Clearfield Brings Music Salon Tradition Home to Main LIne". Mainline Media News. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  2. Allison, Cheryl (April 2, 2016). "Composer Andrea Clearfield brings music salon tradition home to Main Line (page 2)". Mainline Media News. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  3. Basler, Paul (May 2006). "2005 IHS Composition Contest". Horn Call: Journal of the International Horn Society. 36 (3): 87–91. Retrieved May 2, 2016 – via EBSCO.
  4. Brown, Lydia (March 10, 2014). "Celebrating New Music, Diversity at the 2014 Women Composers Festival of Hartford". WNPR.
  5. "The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage". www.pcah.us. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  6. Greenfield (November 2012). "Metamorphosis". American Record Guide. 75 (6): 262. Retrieved May 2, 2016 – via EBSCO.
  7. Ritter (2005). "The Poetic Oboe". American Record Guide. 68 (1): 213. Retrieved May 2, 2016 – via EBSCO.
  8. "Denise Tryon: SO*LOW BRIDGE 9455". Bridge Records. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
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