RICHARD LAVENDA
Professor of Composition and Theory
Director of Graduate Studies

B.A. cum laude (1977) Dartmouth College M.Mus. (1979) Shepherd School of Music, Rice University D.M.A. (1983) University of Michigan. 1606 Alice Pratt Brown Hall 713-348-3330 lavenda@rice.edu

RICHARD LAVENDA's music has been performed around the world by, among many others, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Musica Nova/Tel Aviv, the Slovak Radio Orchestra, ZAWA!, the Fischer Duo, and the Sun, T'Ang, and Enso String Quartet. His compositions include an opera, Barricade, which won a First Prize Award from the National Opera Association, numerous pieces for orchestra, and a wide diversity of chamber music. He has been a guest composer on many campuses and concert series around the United States, at festivals in Germany, the Czech Republic, Australia, Ukraine, Finland, and Slovenia, and on programs at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.

Recent projects include Clarinet Concerto, commissioned with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts by the Houston Symphony for its principal clarinetist, David Peck, conducted by music director Hans Graf in May 2005, Chiaroscuro, written for and premiered by bassoonist Benjamin Kamins, Heat of the Moment, commissioned by Texas Christian University for and premiered by its “Trio con Brio,” Flight of Fancy, written for and premiered by William Ver Meulen and Jon Kimura Parker; and The Language Between Us, commissioned and recorded by the New Israeli Vocal Ensemble.

A native of New Jersey, Lavenda received his education at Dartmouth College, Rice University, and the University of Michigan, where he received a doctorate in 1983. He joined the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice in 1987, and is now Professor of Composition and Theory and Director of Graduate Studies. In addition to composition, he teaches undergraduate theory, graduate analysis, aesthetics, pedagogy of theory, and a Practicum in Contemporary Music, where composers and performers collaborate on the creation of new works. He is the recipient of many grants and awards for innovative teaching and technology in the classroom initiatives.

Recent Compositions

Clarinet Concerto (2004-05) clarinet and orchestra
Heat of the Moment (2004) clarinet, viola, and piano
Chiaroscuro (2004) alto flute, bassoon, vibraphone, and doublebass
Kaleidoscope Dreams (2003) violin, guitar, and marimba
Flight of Fancy (2003) horn and piano
Another Way to Balance (2003) violin and piano
The Language Between Us (2003) SATB a capella choir
Slide Aside (2002) solo piano
Braeswood Serenade (2002) chamber orchestra
Violin Concerto (2001) violin and chamber orchestra
Shadowplay (2001) clarinet, cello, and piano

Recording Selection of Richard Lavenda

Braeswood Serenade
Excerpt: Musica Nove Ensemble of Israel
Leonti Wolf, conductor

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