IU composer receives Guggenheim Fellowship

IU professor and composer in residence Don Freund has been chosen to receive a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. The more than $35,000 award will allow Freund time to pursue his artistic endeavors. \n"The Guggenheim not only gives me more time to compose but also lets me take advantage of time to do quality research," Freund said. "I have enough time to compose now, but the research time will allow me to reconsider several things."\nReceiving the award will allow Freund time to research and compose works. Receiving the fellowship puts Freund in the company of distinguished scholars and artists in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Guggenheim fellowships are grants given during a period of six to 12 months to help free time so the receiver of the grant can pursue research or creative work. They are given to applicants who already demonstrate achievement in research or creative work. According to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships to Assist Research and Artistic Creation Web site in 2004, the average amount of the fellowship was $37,362. Freund said he does not yet know exactly what he is going to do with the fellowship.\n"I do plan on writing a larger work, perhaps something operatic," he said. "The project I submitted was along those lines."\nThe fellowship does not mean Freund will leave IU. He finds IU's environment ideal for a composer, he said.\n"IU is heaven for a composer," he said. "It's the best possible world a composer can work in, with some of the best musicians in the world to perform my works. I'm really amazed to be in this environment."\nFreund credits his inspiration in large part to Ferguson Webster, one of his piano teachers in Pittsburgh, whom Freund called a "genius."\nFreund, also mentioned Joseph Wilcox-Jenkins, his first composition teacher at Duquesne University.\n"(Wilcox-Jenkins) reacted to my music in a way that made me feel like what I was doing was worthwhile," he said.\nFreund's musical influences extend beyond his personal connections into the realm of composers. Among older composers, Freund listed J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Mozart as his biggest influences. But Freund distinguishes the 20th century as bearing a greater influence on him.\n"The music of the 20th century is really my language," he said.\nComposers in this period include Stravinsky, Bartók, Barber and Bernstein. Among living composers, Freund said he is fascinated by Bolcom and especially György Ligeti, he said.\n"I'm always trying to find fresh composers," he said.\nFreund's influences extend beyond art music into the world of pop, jazz and rock. He named Dave Brubeck and The Beatles also among his influences.\nGraduate student Joe Sheehan, who studies under Freund, described Freund's music as eclectic because of the variety of influences. Sheehan said this is because Freund is open to any musical experience.\n"(The eclecticism) also creates a wide range of expression in his music. Freund also has a great ear for color and instrumentation," Sheehan said.\nSheehan also described the uniqueness of Freund's pedagogical approach.\n"Freund has a practical, hands-on approach," Sheehan said. "He spends a lot of time with your music, making useful suggestions and challenging your opinions, which makes you justify your decisions. He is very involved with you in this process."\nGraduate student Alejandro Luis Castillo, who also studies with Freund, also appreciates Freund's hands-on approach.\n"I came to IU wanting to study under Freund because his studio is famous for doing things -- he doesn't want you to write your masterpiece immediately but encourages pedagogical writing," Castillo said.\nCastillo said he also enjoys studying under Freund because of the type of instruction he receives.\n"Freund is a wonderful professor," he said, "He wants you to be comfortable with all your musical decisions. He also listens carefully to everything you say, almost like a psychoanalyst."\nFor more information about the Guggenheim fellowship log onto to www.gf.org/fellow.html.\n-- Contact Staff writer Adam Sedia at asedia@indiana.edu.