The American Composers Forum (ACF) awarded six composers this year’s McKnight Composition Fellowships, funded by the McKnight Foundation. The awards include $25,000 in unrestricted funds for each recipient and acknowledge excellence in the field of music composition.
David Means
Recipient David Means, associate professor, Communication, Writing and the Arts Department, was born on the same day the sound barrier was broken. He studied architecture and music composition at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, integrating aspects of invented notation into sculptural scores and performance installations. His music has been presented at such places as the New Music America Festivals (Minneapolis, Hartford, Houston), Dance Theater Workshop, Experimental Intermedia and the Roulette Performance Series (New York City).
Means’ works have been exhibited and presented by the Walker Art Center, Documenta IX (Kassel), the Xi An Conservatory of Music (China), Het Stroomhuis (Holland), Logos Foundation (Belgium) and the Serpentine Gallery (London). Since 2012 he has participated in the annual Echofluxx Festivals of New Media, Art and Music in Prague. He is currently Director of the Echofluxx Ensemble (Prague) and an Associate Professor of Music and Intermedia Art at Metropolitan State.
Means is joined by three other composers from Minnesota and two visiting composers from New York:
Asako Hirabayashi, Falcon Heights, Minn.
Sergey Khvoshchinsky, Ham Lake, Minn.
Joko Sutrisno, Saint Paul, Minn.
Wang Jie, New York, N.Y.
Peter Michael von der Nahmer, Ozone Park, N.Y.
Learn more about the other recipients and David Means’ work.
Founded on the belief that Minnesota thrives when its artists thrive, The McKnight Foundation’s arts program is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. Support for individual working Minnesota artists has been a cornerstone of the program since it began in 1981. The McKnight Artist Fellowships Program provides annual, unrestricted cash awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 10 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines. Currently the foundation contributes about $1.7 million per year to its statewide fellowships.
The ACF is committed to supporting composers and developing new markets for their music. Founded in 1973, the organization has grown from an innovative regional initiative into one of the nation’s premier composer service organizations. ACF boasts a worldwide membership of over 2,000 artists, organizations and community members.