Lawrence, Shawnee residents win music composition prizes for KU School of Music

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Evan Hunter

LAWRENCE, KS (04/23/2012)(readMedia)-- Evan Hunter, a senior studying music composition at the University of Kansas, recently won the George Lawner Prize for a new orchestral work by a KU student composer.

Hunter, of Lawrence won for his original work, Overture Scintillante.

Honorable Mention went to KU music composition and theory undergraduate student Nick Curry, of Shawnee, for his work, Landscape Paraphrase.

Each year the KU symphony orchestra reads new orchestral works submitted by KU composers for the George Lawner Prize, an annual adjudicated competition co-sponsored by the music theory and music composition division and the KU Symphony Orchestra.

Hunter has performed as a trumpeter and composed in a variety of genres and styles. As a performer he has recorded for a local band and film score, performed for numerous church services and fundraising for the Salvation Army, and arranged tunes for weddings and schools. As a composer, he has written music for brass, woodwinds, strings, and piano, and for large ensembles such as wind band and symphony orchestra. He has also conducted his own works on occasion. Honors and awards include membership in the Pi Kappa Lambda honorary music fraternity and, most recently, receiving the 2012 George Lawner Prize for his composition, Overture Scintillante. His principal teacher is composer James Barnes at KU.

Curry is a composer, music theorist, and journalist at KU. His theoretical research interests include geometrical approaches to music, the music of Maurice Ravel, and American minimalism. Curry also produces an award-winning arts-and-culture themed radio news program at 90.7FM, KJHK called Ad Astra Radio. He currently studies music composition and music theory with Professors James Barnes, Kip Haaheim and Forrest Pierce at the University of Kansas and will begin graduate studies in music theory at the University of Texas at Austin in the fall.

For more information, contact the KU School of Music at 785-864-3436.