Berklee Composition Department Faculty Concert
New music created and performed by members of the Berklee composition department and guests.
Piano Sonata No. 7 "Southern Mediations"
Larry Thomas Bell
Larry Bell, piano
4 Nocturnes for Guitar
Vuk Kulenovic
Apostolos Paraskevas, guitar
"fireflies"
Ryan Suleiman
Sharan Leventhal, violin, Clara Mazo, violin
"Lied (1974)"
Heinz Holliger
Orlando Cela, bass flute
"DuXing"
Derek Hurst
Orlando Cela, bass flute
"The Piano at the Palace Beautiful"
Marti Epstein
Marti Epstein, piano
Larry Thomas Bell
Larry Bell, piano
4 Nocturnes for Guitar
Vuk Kulenovic
Apostolos Paraskevas, guitar
"fireflies"
Ryan Suleiman
Sharan Leventhal, violin, Clara Mazo, violin
"Lied (1974)"
Heinz Holliger
Orlando Cela, bass flute
"DuXing"
Derek Hurst
Orlando Cela, bass flute
"The Piano at the Palace Beautiful"
Marti Epstein
Marti Epstein, piano
Recognized by The Chicago Tribune as “a major talent,” composer Larry Bell has been awarded the Rome Prize, fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations, the Charles Ives Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among other awards. Bell’s orchestral music has been performed by the Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, RAI Orchestra of Rome, Juilliard Philharmonia, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Ruse Philharmonia (Bulgaria), Civic Symphony Orchestra of Boston, Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, University of Miami Symphony, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. His chamber music has been played by ensembles such as the Borromeo String Quartet, ÖENM (Salzburg Mozarteum), the Boston Chamber Music Society, Speculum Musicae, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, the New York New Music Ensemble, North/South Consonance, and Music Today, as well as at festivals in Ravinia, Aspen, Valencia, Pontino, San Salvador, Portugal, Moscow, Ljubljana, Australia, New Zealand, Edinburgh, Zagreb, and the Boston Early Music Festival fringe concerts. The Juilliard String Quartet premiered Bell’s first string quartet written when the composer was twenty-one. Sixty-one of his 184 pieces have been commercially recorded. Bell’s music has been commissioned and performed by a distinguished array of musicians including cellists Eric Bartlett, Joel Krosnick, Sam Ou, and Andrés Dìaz, violinist Ayano Ninomiya, pianists Sara Davis Buechner and Jonathan Bass, soprano D’Anna Fortunato, and conductors Jorge Mester, Gerard Schwarz, Gil Rose, and Benjamin Zander.
As a pianist, he has given recitals throughout the United States, as well as in Italy, Austria, and Japan. Bell received his DMA from The Juilliard School, working in composition with Vincent Persichetti and Roger Sessions, in solfège with Renée Longy, piano with Joseph Bloch and with Joseph Rollino privately in Rome. Bell has taught at The Juilliard School, the Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, and Berklee College of Music. Visit his website at www.LarryBellmusic.com.
As a pianist, he has given recitals throughout the United States, as well as in Italy, Austria, and Japan. Bell received his DMA from The Juilliard School, working in composition with Vincent Persichetti and Roger Sessions, in solfège with Renée Longy, piano with Joseph Bloch and with Joseph Rollino privately in Rome. Bell has taught at The Juilliard School, the Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, and Berklee College of Music. Visit his website at www.LarryBellmusic.com.
Apostolos Paraskevas
Apostolos Paraskevas is a classical guitarist, composer, award-winning film director, and
producer. He has received multiple international awards for his compositions and was
nominated for a Grammy Award. He is the only guitarist ever to have a major orchestral
piece performed at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Lukas Foss––and the only musician
who has performed there in a grim reaper outfit. He has made over a dozen recordings of
his music and his orchestral music has been performed around the world by numerous
symphony orchestras, including Albany, Boston Landmarks, Boston University, Newton,
National Festival, Atlantic, Odessa, National Greek, Cyprus, Florida International
University, Thessaloniki Municipal Symphony orchestras and Boston Civic Orchestra. He
was the founder and served 16 years as the artistic director of the International Guitar
Congress Festival of Corfu, Greece. He is a voting member of the Recording Academy
(Grammys).
After his undergraduate music studies in Volos, he pursued advanced studies in classical
guitar with Costas Cotsiolis (diploma, 1990) and Leo Brouwer (Havana 1984, 1988), as well
as postgraduate studies in composition with Lukas Foss and Theodore Antoniou (DMA in
composition, Boston University, 1998). Paraskevas embarked on a successful career as a
guitar soloist and contemporary composer, achieving distinctions in both disciplines:
Grammy nomination for Chase Dance (Bridge Records, 1999); first prize for "Night
Wanderings" (Lukas Foss Composition Competition, 2000); first prize for "Phygein Adynaton"
(National Composers Conference, 1997); and numerous prestigious commissions,
performances, and publications. Following teaching posts at Northeastern and Boston
Universities, Paraskevas has taught since 2001 at Berklee College of Music in Boston
(professor of composition and classical guitar). Although he was struck by focal hand
dystonia in 2009, he recovered in 2013 after reconstructing his playing technique.
His eclectic compositional style arises as an idiosyncratic integration of seemingly conflicting influences—from avant-garde approaches to harmonic structure, form, and timbre, to pop-folk modal and rhythmical concepts—amalgamated into a personal evocative musical language, characterized by rhythmic verve, melodic grace, dramatic (and sometimes unexpectedly humorous) gestures, and ritualistic or theatrical elements. The latter feature has also led Paraskevas to create films, notably the acclaimed "I Finally Did It" (Gold award, California Film Awards 2010), dealing wittily with death, a recurring extra-musical theme in his music.
Publishers: Hal Leonard (USA), Bèrben (Ancona, Italy), Schott (Germany), Papagrigoriou-
Nakas (Athens, Greece), Silver Sickle Productions (USA), Centaur Records, and Bridge Records
(USA).
producer. He has received multiple international awards for his compositions and was
nominated for a Grammy Award. He is the only guitarist ever to have a major orchestral
piece performed at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Lukas Foss––and the only musician
who has performed there in a grim reaper outfit. He has made over a dozen recordings of
his music and his orchestral music has been performed around the world by numerous
symphony orchestras, including Albany, Boston Landmarks, Boston University, Newton,
National Festival, Atlantic, Odessa, National Greek, Cyprus, Florida International
University, Thessaloniki Municipal Symphony orchestras and Boston Civic Orchestra. He
was the founder and served 16 years as the artistic director of the International Guitar
Congress Festival of Corfu, Greece. He is a voting member of the Recording Academy
(Grammys).
After his undergraduate music studies in Volos, he pursued advanced studies in classical
guitar with Costas Cotsiolis (diploma, 1990) and Leo Brouwer (Havana 1984, 1988), as well
as postgraduate studies in composition with Lukas Foss and Theodore Antoniou (DMA in
composition, Boston University, 1998). Paraskevas embarked on a successful career as a
guitar soloist and contemporary composer, achieving distinctions in both disciplines:
Grammy nomination for Chase Dance (Bridge Records, 1999); first prize for "Night
Wanderings" (Lukas Foss Composition Competition, 2000); first prize for "Phygein Adynaton"
(National Composers Conference, 1997); and numerous prestigious commissions,
performances, and publications. Following teaching posts at Northeastern and Boston
Universities, Paraskevas has taught since 2001 at Berklee College of Music in Boston
(professor of composition and classical guitar). Although he was struck by focal hand
dystonia in 2009, he recovered in 2013 after reconstructing his playing technique.
His eclectic compositional style arises as an idiosyncratic integration of seemingly conflicting influences—from avant-garde approaches to harmonic structure, form, and timbre, to pop-folk modal and rhythmical concepts—amalgamated into a personal evocative musical language, characterized by rhythmic verve, melodic grace, dramatic (and sometimes unexpectedly humorous) gestures, and ritualistic or theatrical elements. The latter feature has also led Paraskevas to create films, notably the acclaimed "I Finally Did It" (Gold award, California Film Awards 2010), dealing wittily with death, a recurring extra-musical theme in his music.
Publishers: Hal Leonard (USA), Bèrben (Ancona, Italy), Schott (Germany), Papagrigoriou-
Nakas (Athens, Greece), Silver Sickle Productions (USA), Centaur Records, and Bridge Records
(USA).
Vuk Kulenovic
Vuk Kulenovic was a highly respected Serbian composer and teacher who lived in Boston,
Massachusetts. He taught counterpoint, orchestration, and directed study at Berklee College
of Music. His music was commissioned from all over the world and he was influenced by a
variety of styles including jazz, Indian ragas, Balkan folk music, rock, and many other
contemporary genres. He composed over 100 works for symphony orchestras, solo
instruments, chamber ensembles, choral and vocal pieces, ballet, and film and stage music
scores.
Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia in 1946, Vuk was the son of
Skender Kulenović. He studied piano and composition at Ljubljana Academy of Music with
Alojz Srebotnjak in Slovenia, and later at Belgrade University with Enriko Josif. During his
studies, the popular approach to composition was in the 12-tone technique brought to the
world by Arnold Schoenberg, but this had little influence on Kulenovic. He wrote in the
minimalist style before it was given a name and popularized by composers such as Steve
Reich and Philip Glass. Vuk also taught at Belgrade University from 1979-1990, where he
received his masters of music.
In 1992, Kulenovic organized a protest in Belgrade against the policies of Serbian president
Slobodan Milošević. This protest, made up of musicians and artists, was the first of its kind.
However, his actions were noticed by the media and put him in an unfavorable position with
the government he was protesting against. As a result, Kulenovic and his family fled the
country to the United States with the help of a Fulbright scholarship provided by the New
England Conservatory in Boston. After lecturing at local colleges in Boston and other
schools, he decided to make Boston his home and began teaching at Berklee College of
Music in the autumn of 1996. He remained an active composer and teacher at Berklee until
his death in April 2017.
Massachusetts. He taught counterpoint, orchestration, and directed study at Berklee College
of Music. His music was commissioned from all over the world and he was influenced by a
variety of styles including jazz, Indian ragas, Balkan folk music, rock, and many other
contemporary genres. He composed over 100 works for symphony orchestras, solo
instruments, chamber ensembles, choral and vocal pieces, ballet, and film and stage music
scores.
Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia in 1946, Vuk was the son of
Skender Kulenović. He studied piano and composition at Ljubljana Academy of Music with
Alojz Srebotnjak in Slovenia, and later at Belgrade University with Enriko Josif. During his
studies, the popular approach to composition was in the 12-tone technique brought to the
world by Arnold Schoenberg, but this had little influence on Kulenovic. He wrote in the
minimalist style before it was given a name and popularized by composers such as Steve
Reich and Philip Glass. Vuk also taught at Belgrade University from 1979-1990, where he
received his masters of music.
In 1992, Kulenovic organized a protest in Belgrade against the policies of Serbian president
Slobodan Milošević. This protest, made up of musicians and artists, was the first of its kind.
However, his actions were noticed by the media and put him in an unfavorable position with
the government he was protesting against. As a result, Kulenovic and his family fled the
country to the United States with the help of a Fulbright scholarship provided by the New
England Conservatory in Boston. After lecturing at local colleges in Boston and other
schools, he decided to make Boston his home and began teaching at Berklee College of
Music in the autumn of 1996. He remained an active composer and teacher at Berklee until
his death in April 2017.
Ryan Suleiman
Ryan Suleiman was born to Lebanese and Mid-Western parents in California. His music
engages with dreaming, the natural world, and the understated beauty of everyday life.
His one-act chamber opera, "Moon, Bride, Dogs", was described by the San Francisco
Chronicle as “a gem” with “an aesthetic that is at once so strange and so accessible.”
While his artistic interests vary, he seeks ways of conveying the simultaneity of beauty
and dread that characterizes our times.
Recent projects include an opera called "The School for Girls Who Lost Everything in the
Fire" with writer Cristina Fríes (in progress), a violin duo about contemplating space, and
a work for socially-distanced soprano and chamber ensemble that explores collective
feelings of isolation through the poetry of Gibran Khalil Gibran. Ryan completed his
Ph.D. at University of California, Davis. He is currently an assistant professor at Berklee
College of Music and has held teaching positions at Sacramento State and UC
Davis. He also teaches composition privately. Ryan currently resides in Boston with his
partner and several furry animals. More information available
at www.ryansuleiman.com.
engages with dreaming, the natural world, and the understated beauty of everyday life.
His one-act chamber opera, "Moon, Bride, Dogs", was described by the San Francisco
Chronicle as “a gem” with “an aesthetic that is at once so strange and so accessible.”
While his artistic interests vary, he seeks ways of conveying the simultaneity of beauty
and dread that characterizes our times.
Recent projects include an opera called "The School for Girls Who Lost Everything in the
Fire" with writer Cristina Fríes (in progress), a violin duo about contemplating space, and
a work for socially-distanced soprano and chamber ensemble that explores collective
feelings of isolation through the poetry of Gibran Khalil Gibran. Ryan completed his
Ph.D. at University of California, Davis. He is currently an assistant professor at Berklee
College of Music and has held teaching positions at Sacramento State and UC
Davis. He also teaches composition privately. Ryan currently resides in Boston with his
partner and several furry animals. More information available
at www.ryansuleiman.com.
Orlando Cela
“In Orlando Cela’s able hands and imagination, a flute becomes a world orchestra,” says the
Oregon ArtsWatch about Orlando’s lively performances that open new worlds of experience. Mr.
Cela has performed at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian (Washington DC), the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), and at the Center for New Music and Technologies
at UC Berkeley. His credits abroad include concerts at the Zentrum Danziger (Berlin), the Espace
des Femmes (Paris), and at the Musikverein (Vienna). As a collaborative artist, Mr. Cela has
concertized with flutist Paula Robison, tabla player Samir Chatterjee, harpsichordist John
Gibbons, and with shen (mouth organ) virtuoso Hu Jianbing. He recently became a finalist in the
American Prize in the professional instrumentalist division. He recently released his third solo
CD, Shadow Etchings, and his orchestral CD, The Suite, with the Lowell Chamber
Orchestra, to rave reviews from Grammophone, Naxos Music, The Arts Fuse, and Avant Music
News.
Oregon ArtsWatch about Orlando’s lively performances that open new worlds of experience. Mr.
Cela has performed at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian (Washington DC), the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), and at the Center for New Music and Technologies
at UC Berkeley. His credits abroad include concerts at the Zentrum Danziger (Berlin), the Espace
des Femmes (Paris), and at the Musikverein (Vienna). As a collaborative artist, Mr. Cela has
concertized with flutist Paula Robison, tabla player Samir Chatterjee, harpsichordist John
Gibbons, and with shen (mouth organ) virtuoso Hu Jianbing. He recently became a finalist in the
American Prize in the professional instrumentalist division. He recently released his third solo
CD, Shadow Etchings, and his orchestral CD, The Suite, with the Lowell Chamber
Orchestra, to rave reviews from Grammophone, Naxos Music, The Arts Fuse, and Avant Music
News.
Derek Hurst
Derek Hurst is a composer writing acoustic and electroacoustic concert music. His work exhibits a balance between visceral solemnity and muscular jocularity, mixed with timbral subtlety. Both his acoustic and electronic works have been performed throughout the U.S. and abroad by ensembles such as: Boston Modern Orchestra Project, String Noise, Left Coast Ensemble, Ensemble Pamplemousse, Interensemble, Brave New Works, Ecce Ensemble; and prominent soloists: Ian Pace, Winston Choi, Geoffrey Burleson, Ashleigh Gordon, and Sarah Brady, with works featured on concert events of: League-ISCM, SEAMUS, ICMC, Boston Cyberarts and the ComputerArts Festival. Hurst and his creative work have received several awards, honors and distinctions including: Fromm Foundation Commission, Jebediah Foundation Commission, MCC Artist’s Fellowship, the Wayne Peterson Prize, and The Copland House Residency. As a new music advocate, he also has directed numerous concerts of new music and was Cohost for the SEAMUS 2019 national conference, which was held on the greater Berklee/Boston Conservatory campus.
Hurst is professor of composition at Berklee and teaches courses in composition, electronic music, theory, counterpoint, and contemporary music. He earned his PhD in composition/theory from Brandeis University. His dissertation on Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto (op. 42) is published by Verlag, D.M.
Hurst is professor of composition at Berklee and teaches courses in composition, electronic music, theory, counterpoint, and contemporary music. He earned his PhD in composition/theory from Brandeis University. His dissertation on Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto (op. 42) is published by Verlag, D.M.
Marti Epstein
Marti Epstein is a Boston-based composer whose music has been performed by the San Francisco
Symphony, The Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, Ensemble Modern, Trinity Wall Street, and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, She has completed commissions for the Fromm Foundation, The Munich Biennale, the Ludovico Ensemble, Guerilla Opera, the Radius Ensemble, Tanglewood Music Center, Winsor Music, Boston Opera Collaborative, Callithumpian Consort, Hinge, loadbang, and Collage New Music. Marti was a two-time fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center (1986 and 1988) and a three-time fellow at the MacDowell Colony (1998, 1999, 2022).
In 2020, Marti was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to compose "Seven Sisters, Radiant Sisters" for the Hinge Ensemble, "Alpenglow" for loadbang, and "In Praise of Broken Clocks" for soundicon. Nebraska Impromptu, an album of Marti’s chamber music for clarinet, was just released this past April on New Focus Recordings and features clarinetist Rane Moore and members of Winsor Music. Marti is professor of composition at Berklee College of Music/Boston Conservatory of Music.
Symphony, The Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, Ensemble Modern, Trinity Wall Street, and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, She has completed commissions for the Fromm Foundation, The Munich Biennale, the Ludovico Ensemble, Guerilla Opera, the Radius Ensemble, Tanglewood Music Center, Winsor Music, Boston Opera Collaborative, Callithumpian Consort, Hinge, loadbang, and Collage New Music. Marti was a two-time fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center (1986 and 1988) and a three-time fellow at the MacDowell Colony (1998, 1999, 2022).
In 2020, Marti was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to compose "Seven Sisters, Radiant Sisters" for the Hinge Ensemble, "Alpenglow" for loadbang, and "In Praise of Broken Clocks" for soundicon. Nebraska Impromptu, an album of Marti’s chamber music for clarinet, was just released this past April on New Focus Recordings and features clarinetist Rane Moore and members of Winsor Music. Marti is professor of composition at Berklee College of Music/Boston Conservatory of Music.
Sharan Leventhal
Sharan Leventhal, violin, has toured four continents as a soloist, chamber musician, and
teacher. Since winning the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the 1984 International Contemporary
Music Festival in Darmstadt, Germany, she has built an international reputation as a champion
of contemporary music. Her more than 130 premieres include works written by Gunther
Schuller, Ben Johnston, Pauline Oliveros, Tania León, and Simon Bainbridge.
Equally active in traditional venues, Leventhal has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops
Esplanade Orchestra, and the Toledo, Milwaukee, Topeka, Dayton, and Albany symphonies,
among others. She is a founding member of the Gramercy Trio, the Kepler Quartet, and
Marimolin. Sharan Leventhal joined the Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2005 and teaches
applied violin, chamber music, and contemporary performance practice.
teacher. Since winning the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the 1984 International Contemporary
Music Festival in Darmstadt, Germany, she has built an international reputation as a champion
of contemporary music. Her more than 130 premieres include works written by Gunther
Schuller, Ben Johnston, Pauline Oliveros, Tania León, and Simon Bainbridge.
Equally active in traditional venues, Leventhal has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops
Esplanade Orchestra, and the Toledo, Milwaukee, Topeka, Dayton, and Albany symphonies,
among others. She is a founding member of the Gramercy Trio, the Kepler Quartet, and
Marimolin. Sharan Leventhal joined the Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2005 and teaches
applied violin, chamber music, and contemporary performance practice.
Clara Mazo
Clara Mazo completed her bachelor’s degree at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. As a
daughter of Colombian immigrants, Clara focuses on music reflecting her heritage, crafting
programs of music by Hispanic and Spanish composers. She has enjoyed her time studying with
Sharan Leventhal and being able to premiere and record new works as her student.
daughter of Colombian immigrants, Clara focuses on music reflecting her heritage, crafting
programs of music by Hispanic and Spanish composers. She has enjoyed her time studying with
Sharan Leventhal and being able to premiere and record new works as her student.