ABBREVIATED BIO

Donald Reid Womack is the composer of more than 80 works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and voice.  His music has been performed and broadcast extensively throughout the United States, Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Italy, Germany, France, Poland, Argentina, New Zealand, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico, and is published by Akamai Music, Dorn Publications, and C.F. Peters Corporation.  Born in 1966, Dr. Womack holds Doctoral and Masters degrees in composition from Northwestern University, Bachelors degrees in philosophy and music theory from Furman University, and has participated in such festivals as the Conservatoire Americain in Fontainebleau, France, the June in Buffalo Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival.  The many organizations that have honored his music include ASCAP, Meet the Composer, The American Music Center, Arts Midwest, The Society of Composers, Sigma Alpha Iota, The National Association of Composers, The National Association for Advancement in the Arts, The Tampa Bay Composers' Forum, Northwestern University, The Music Teachers' National Association, and The American String Teachers Association.  Dr. Womack received a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship to live and work in Japan during the 2007-08 season, where he served as guest composer-in-residence with the Tokyo-based Japanese instrumental ensemble AURA-J.  His work with Japanese and other Asian instruments has placed him at the vanguard of East-West cross-cultural fertilization, and has enabled him to make a significant contribution to the body of new literature for Asian instruments, both alone and in combination with Western instruments.

The recipient of more than 90 grants and commissions, Dr. Womack was awarded Individual Artist Fellowships from the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts in 1997 and again in 2002, becoming the only artist in any field to be twice honored.  Performances of his work include his After for shakuhachi, koto and orchestra performed by Seizan Sakata and Reiko Kimura, with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Tennessee Crossroads performed by the Louisville Orchestra, Violin Concerto – In questi tempi di Conflitto, by violinist Ignace Jang and the Honolulu Symphony, Bruner's Grove by the Westmoreland (Pennsylvania) Symphony, Double Sided by Asia Ensemble with the Salzburg Mozarteum String Quartet, and Walk Across the Surface of the Sun by AURA-J.  His works can be heard on the Albany, Equilibrium, Tokyo CMC, and MMC labels, as well as on recordings produced by the University Hawai‘i.  

Dr. Womack’s work has been hailed as “original, creative, and ingenious” by Shimbun Akahata (Tokyo), “wonderfully mellow” by the Buffalo (NY) Daily News, and “distinctive, stirring, and exciting” by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, which also described his Violin Concerto as “a powerful work, impressively crafted, that impacts listeners on a visceral level.”  In 1996 the German periodical Neue Musikzeitung placed Dr. Womack among a group of young American composers who "justify hopes that America should be capable of providing stimulus for a new century".  A faculty member at the University of Hawai‘i since 1994, Dr. Womack has chaired the music department and presently serves as professor of composition and theory.  

–updated February, 2010

SHORT BIO

Donald Reid Womack is the composer of more than 80 works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and voice.  His music has been performed and broadcast extensively throughout the United States, Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Italy, Germany, France, Poland, Argentina, New Zealand, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico, and is published by Akamai Music, Dorn Publications, and C.F. Peters Corporation.  Born in 1966, Dr. Womack holds Doctoral and Masters degrees in composition from Northwestern University, Bachelors degrees in philosophy and music theory from Furman University, and has participated in such festivals as the Conservatoire Americain in Fontainebleau, France, the June in Buffalo Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival.  Dr. Womack received a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship to live and work in Japan during the 2007-08 season, where he served as guest composer-in-residence with the Tokyo-based Japanese instrumental ensemble AURA-J.  His work with Japanese and other Asian instruments has placed him at the vanguard of East-West cross-cultural fertilization.  

The recipient of more than 90 grants and commissions, Dr. Womack was awarded Individual Artist Fellowships from the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts in 1997 and again in 2002, becoming the only artist in any field to be twice honored.  Performances of his work include his After for shakuhachi, koto and orchestra performed by Seizan Sakata and Reiko Kimura, with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Tennessee Crosroads performed by the Louisville Orchestra, Violin Concerto – In questi tempi di Conflitto, by violinist Ignace Jang and the Honolulu Symphony, Double Sided by Asia Ensemble with the Salzburg Mozarteum String Quartet, and Walk Across the Surface of the Sun by AURA-J.  A faculty member at the University of Hawai‘i since 1994, Dr. Womack has chaired the music department and presently serves as professor of composition and theory.  

–updated February, 2010


CONDENSED BIO

The music of Donald Reid Womack has been heard on five continents and honored by more than 90 awards and commissions, including a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship to work in Japan as guest composer-in-residence with the Japanese instrumental ensemble AURA-J.  His major works include a symphony, a violin concerto, and a concerto for shakuhachi, koto, and orchestra.  His work with Japanese and other Asian instruments has placed him at the vanguard of East-West cross-cultural fertilization, and his works have been performed by such groups as the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and Asia Ensemble.  In 1996 the German periodical Neue Musikzeitung placed Dr. Womack among a group of young American composers who "justify hopes that America should be capable of providing stimulus for a new century".  A faculty member at the University of Hawai‘i since 1994, Dr. Womack serves as professor of composition and theory.  

–updated February, 2010


MINI BIO

The music of Donald Reid Womack has been performed and broadcast on five continents and honored by more than 90 awards, grants and commissions, including a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship, two Artist Fellowships from the State of Hawai‘i, and first prize in the Sigma Alpha Iota Inter-American Music Awards.  His major works include a symphony, a violin concerto, and a double concerto for shakuhachi, koto, and orchestra.  A faculty member at the University of Hawai‘i since 1994, Womack serves as professor of composition and theory.

–updated February, 2010
 
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