Modern Notebook Interview: Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program 1

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Modern Notebook Interview: Max Tan, Sean Friar, Chris Neiner, and Yangfan Xu (Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program)

Photo: composers Chris Neiner (Justin Gamble Photography) and Yangfan Xu (photo credit Sophia Szokolay).

Modern Notebook Interview: Max Tan, Sean Friar, Chris Neiner, and Yangfan Xu (from the Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program.

Original air date: November 12, 2023

On this edition of Modern Notebook, Tyler Kline kicks off a series of interviews with fellows from the inaugural Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program in Sarasota, FL! We’ll hear from artistic director Max Tan and composer mentor Sean Friar to learn more about this new program, then I’ll speak with composers Chris Neiner and Yangfan Xu about their experiences there, their music, and their careers.

From SCFP: "How can we introduce and lift the voices of wonderful composers today to more communities around the world? After new music is premiered, they often collect dust on the shelves. How do we bring these works into our music-making today? What tools do we need to become advocates for music of our times?

The Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program brings together 12 musicians and 2 established and award-winning composer mentors in residence along with 6 composer fellows from an international applicant pool. This community of performers and composers interact with the Sarasota community and bring the enthusiasm of our music-making to all corners of the globe."

For more information about the Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program click here.

Listen to Tyler’s conversation below.

Chris Neiner (b. 1994) is a Cleveland-based composer of contemporary classical music with colorful harmony, diverse influences, and engaging energy. His recent commissions include Time Machine Hyperboles for NO EXIT New Music Ensemble; Red Riding Pictures Proudly Presents for Stars in the Classics; Aurora Fanfare & Dance for the Aurora School of Music; and Playtime for a consortium of collegiate horn professors across the United States. Neiner’s work has been praised by Cleveland Classical for "incorporating the zazzy colors of the current new music dialect," and "pleasant shocks and melting cadences." Currently, Neiner is the composition faculty for the Aurora School of Music and artist-in-residence for Solich Piano, the largest Yamaha piano retailer across the Midwest.

Learn more about Chris by visiting https://www.chrisneiner.com/

Yangfan Xu (b. 1998) holds a deep passion and love for cats. Whenever she hears a string player glissando in the upper registers, she can’t help but think of a cat's meow. In addition to her feline obsession, Xu is a Chinese-born US-based composer who comes from a musical family in Lanzhou, Gansu province, with a spoiled cat who eats better than everyone else.

Xu has worked with composers including Phillip Lasser, Xiaofu Zhang, Ping Jin, and Michel Merlet. Xu received a bachelor’s degree in composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music studying with Mason Bates. She studied musicology at the high school affiliated with the Central Conservatory of Music in China. Xu earned her master’s degree in composition at the Juilliard School, studying under Robert Beaser. She is a current DMA student at the New England Conservatory of Music with studio teacher Kati Agócs.

Read more about Yangfan at https://www.yangfanxu.com/