Search - Curt Cacioppo; Joseph Hudson, Leah Inger (soprano); Michael Riley (bass-baritone); Elizabeth Farnum (soprano); Constantine Cassolas (tenor) :: Burning With The Muse (Cacioppo & Hudson Vocal Works)

Curt Cacioppo is recognized as a composer, pianist and educator, and for his interests in Native American studies. He has written for the Emerson Quartet, performed with prominent artists such as Arnold Steinhardt, received the Vosgerchian teaching prize, and is cited in the U.S. and abroad for his work in American Indian music. In 1987 he met Christopher Scaife while in Tuscany, at a place called Paternina. Their mutual admiration led inevitably to the settings on this CD. An even longer friendship with poet Friedrich Thiel brought about the composition of the Sieben Thiel Lieder also featured on this disc. ("In Memoriam" is dedicated to a boyhood friend whose untimely death in 1986 was the delayed result of military service in Vietnam. "To A Connoisseur" references the 12th century sequence "O Euchari" by Hildegard von Bingen. The trumpet and chime parts in the scena pastorale Franciscan Prayer are played offstage. Suspended cymbal and a Tibetan monastery bell! complete the modest percussion array.) Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Joseph Hudson has lived in New York for over 30 years. After study with Mario Davidovsky at City College and Columbia University, he went on to receive his Ph.D. in composition from the State University of New York at Stonybrook. His music has changed over the years from a style highly influenced by serialism, to a more lyrical idiom with strong roots in tonality. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants including a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, a Martha Baird Rockefeller Recording Grant, the Charles Ives Award and a BMI Student Composer Award.