The winner of the 2018 Illinois-ACDA Choral Composition Contest is Robert Applebaum of Menlo Park, California, for his marvelous piece for SSAA choir, “Rain Music”. In addition to a cash prize of $1,000, Mr. Applebaum had his winning composition performed and recorded by all of the attendees at the IL-ACDA 2018 Summer Retreat this past June at Illinois State University.
Applebaum’s secular and non-secular choral music has received frequent performance in concert settings throughout the USA by a variety of vocal ensembles, including the Chicago Children’s Choir (who sang Applebaum’s setting of V’ahavta at the 2000 White House holiday concerts) and the Pacific Mozart Ensemble (Berkeley, CA). In 2015 and 2016 his settings of Shakespeare texts were performed on programs in the USA and Europe. His settings of Jewish texts have often been featured at the Zamir North American Summer Choral Festival (New York) and many settings have found their way into liturgical use at synagogues coast to coast.
Chicago a cappella included two of his Chanukah pieces on their 2002 CD Holidays Live!, and three of his settings of Shakespeare texts on their highly acclaimed 2005 Çedille release, Shall I Compare Thee?
Applebaum self-publishes the bulk of his choral work; about 50 of his pieces are published by E.C. Schirmer, Transcontinental Music, and Hal Leonard. More information may be found at www.bobapplebaum.com.
The deadline for the 2019 IL-ACDA Choral Composition Contest will be April 1, 2019. The required voicing for 2019 will be SAB or SATB. Go to http://www.il-acda.org/awards/ for complete contest rules and entry form.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.