Hey, hey, finally, got the award list from the American Prize ERNST BACON MEMORIAL AWARD for the PERFORMANCE of AMERICAN MUSIC, ensemble division, 2017‑18, and conductor Chris Kelts’ world premiere performance with the MSU Symphony Orchestra of “Tracing a Dream” came in as a tie for Third Place:
Rain Worthington, composer
Missouri State University Symphony
Christoper Kelts, conductor
Springfield MO
Tracing a Dream—Worthington
Rain Worthington, Sylvia Ahramjian, Paula Sant’ana with the student orchestra of the Encontro Internacional de Cordas.
Excitedly busy preparing the score and all the parts for the upcoming recording PARMA Recordings session for my new piece, Full Circle – for cello soloist and small orchestra. Recording session will be September in Olomouc with Petr Vronsky conducting the Moravian Philharmonic with Petr Nouzovsky, cellist!
… extracting, formatting, printing, proofing, correcting, proofing, etc. etc. but got it done and off to PARMA! 
Now happy, excited and just a little blurry-eyed!
Student orchestra of the V Encontro Internacional de Cordas, in Limeira, Brazil.
A totally amazing experience to be there in Limeira, Brazil for the festival. The students and master musicians were wonderfully passionate about music and interested in contemporary composers. All the people were genuinely welcoming, open-hearted and appreciative. Truly a soul-nourishing, musically revitalizing and treasured experience. The South American premiere of In Passages was performed brilliantly by Sylvia Ahramjian, as soloist and conducted by Paula Sant’ana.
Rain Worthington, composer; Sylvia Ahramjian, violin soloist, and Paula Sant’ana, conductor.
Rain Worthington, Sylvia Ahramjian, Paula Sant’ana with the student orchestra of the Encontro Internacional de Cordas.
I am so excitedly looking forward to attending this South American premiere of “In Passages” with Sylvia Davis Ahramjian as the soloist! June 23, 2018 in Limeira, SP, Brazil. Thank you Rafael Torralvo, Director of the V Encontro Internacional de Cordas.
Delighted to have my simple violin/piano duet, Jilted Tango included on Moonkyung Lee’s new CD release, Parts to Play – a spectrum of works that showcase her extraordinary artistry and versatility. Thank you Moonkyung Lee and PARMA Recordings!
Great performances by
Karen Bentley Pollick in a program of wonderfully varied music by New York Women Composers as part of the SPECTRUM Female Composers’ Festival.
Concert Program
Karen Bentley Pollick will be mixing Serbian, Lithuanian, Oriental, Icelandic & Mid-Eastern harmonies and melodies in a violin & viola recital coming up
And, I’m happy to say that the program includes two of my solo violin pieces and the NY premiere of a miniature for solo viola. Here’s the video of her earlier beautiful premiere performance of Mixed Times of Yearning in Seattle.
Coming up: April 24th in Shippensburg, PA
Pianist Margaret Lucia will perform “Conversation Before the Rain” in her concert “Music for Earth Day: Tempests, reflections and fantaisies” for the Shippensburg University Chapel Series at the Old Main Chapel.
(This is a video excerpt I created from a recording of a very early concert performance I did)
Fantastic! Conductor Christopher Kelts and I are both moving up the ranks for the “American Prize ERNST BACON for the Performance of American Music“. We’ve made the list of Finalists! for my orchestral work, “Tracing a Dream.” (I applied as a Composer in the Professional division, and Chris Kelts applied in the College/University division for the Missouri State University Symphony world premiere performance.)
Whooee, Conductor, Christopher Kelts and I both made it to the semi finals in the “American Prize ERNST BACON for the Performance of American Music.” We applied with Missouri State University Symphony’s premiere performance of my orchestral piece, “Tracing a Dream.”
(I applied as a Composer in the Professional division and Chris Kelts applied in the College/University division.)
Very competitive to get to the finals, but hey hey we’re both on the semi-finalists list.
It’s a bit of recognition and a nice little boost.
White Raven – Chamber Music by WomenHosted by Vent Nouveau and Compass New Music Series
Sunday, March 25th, 4:30 at the Marc A. Scorca Hall at the National Opera Center, NYC
Happy to say that two of my pieces will be included on this concert program. The one that’s for solo low wind, with the odd title of “BaDaBaDaDa” will be a premiere, which is always a treat to hear the music realized by a real musician! Can’t wait to hear it. (with fingers crossed that my writing works!)
Hope you can make it.
Saturday, March 24th, 8pm at the Center for New Music in San Francisco
Miolina Violin Duo presents ‘All Good Is Luck,’ a program of works by East Coast and West Coast women composers
55 Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
It’s always very cool to hear the fabulous violin duo, Miolina (Mioi Takeda & Lynn Bechtold, violinists). And, I’m excited that they’ll be presenting a US premiere of my violin duet “In Tandem” following their world premiere performance last year in Tokyo!
In a concert curated by Center for New Music’s Emma Logan, NYC-based violin duo Miolina, a member of New Music USA’s Impact Cohort, presents ‘All Good Is Luck,’ a program of works highlighting East Coast and West Coast women composers. Premieres of new and newly arranged works by Emma Logan, Eve Beglarian, Jessica Meyer, Lynn Bechtold, and Rain Worthington will be featured, as well as fixtures of Miolina’s repertoire by Angélica Negrón, Mari Kimura, and Melissa Grey. Miolina is Mioi Takeda & Lynn Bechtold, violins.
Coming Up March 8, 2018 at 21:00, Padua, Italy: I Solisti Veneti orchestra conducted by Maestro Claudio Scimone with Chiara Parrini, violin soloist, will present the European Premiere of “In Passages” for violin soloist and string orchestra on a concert program of International Women Composers facilitated through Donne in Musica.
The international program will feature music by women composers from six countries.
SOUTH AFRICA: Jeanne Zaidel Rudolph, “Masada”
USA: Rain Worthington, “In Passages” (European Premiere)
CHINA: Fuhong Chi, “The Mountain Spirit”
AUSTRALIA: Cassi To, “Orchinus Orca”
ITALY: Silvia Bianchera, “Ad Anna F”
GREECE: Anna Stereopulo, “Alpha”
Auditorium Cesare Pollini, Via Carlo Cassan, 17, 35121 Padova PD, Italy
February 1st, Karen Bentley Pollick performed a fabulous concert at the beautiful Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Seattle, Washington. The program featured music by NYWC members Victoria Bond, Adrienne Elisha, Marga Richter, Faye-Ellen Silverman, as well as works by Mark Kopytman, Jonathan Berger, and a world premiere of Karen’s own new piece for solo violin.
Her performance of the world premiere of my miniature for solo viola, Mixed Times of Yearning was so perfectly exquisite.
Thank You for the Premieres and Performances in 2017.
MSU Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Kelts, Conductor, Pamela Davis, Violin soloist;
Moonkyung Lee, violin; Ana Cervantes, piano; Marvin Rosen, piano; Minkyung Lee, soprano;
Anna Cromwell & Lisa Nelson, violins; Bruno Ispiola & Guillaume Lagravière, cellos;
Sylvia Ahramjian and Rafael Torralvo, violins; George Georgiou, clarinet & Annini Tsiouti, piano;
I am so grateful for your Musical Artistry!
2017 Musicians Thank You
Great News! I’m genuinely honored to have just been selected as a semi-finalist in the American Prize in Composition—Orchestra (professional division) national competition for my orchestral work, Fast Through Dark Winds.
December 5, 2017 Clarinetist, George Georgiou and pianist, Annini Tsiouti are premiering the clarinet/piano version of Jilted Tango on a wonderful concert program of women’s music at the Cyprus Wine Museum!
This promises to be a fabulous performance program by the cello duo of Guillaume Lagravière and Bruno Ispiola November 25, 2017 at the Osmose Intermezzo concert, Centre Culturel d’Evere, Bruxelles, Belgium. I’m thrilled that my newly composed work, Configurations – for two celli will receive its world premiere!
I’m so excited – I’ll be tuning in real-time Saturday, October 14th to the PARMA recording session of my orchestral tone poem In Passages for violin soloist and string orchestra, with the Croatian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Miran Vaoupotic!