2012-2013 Concert Season

Robert Greenberg

Robert Greenberg has composed over forty-five works for a variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles. His works have been performed in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, England, Ireland, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands, where his Child's Play for string quartet was performed at the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. Mr. Greenberg holds degrees from Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a Ph.D. in music composition in 1984. His principal teachers were Edward Cone, Claudio Spies, Andrew Imbrie and Olly Wilson. Among his awards are three Nicola De Lorenzo Prizes, three Meet The Composer grants, and commissions from the Koussevitzky Foundation of the Library of Congress, the Alexander String Quartet, XTET, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. Mr. Greenberg has performed, taught, and lectured extensively across North America and Europe. He is presently Music Historian-in-Residence with San Francisco Performances, and the resident music commentator for National Public Radio's Weekend All Things Considered. He has recorded over four hundred lectures on various musical topics for the Virginia-based Teaching Company/Superstar Teachers Program. Available in audio and video formats, the lectures are widely circulated and have garnered praise. Robert Greenberg is an artistic director and board member of Composers, Inc. His music is published by Fallen Leaf Press and CPP/Belwin and is recorded on the Innova label.

Frank La Rocca

Frank La Rocca (born 1951 in New Jersey) was educated at Yale (B.A. 1973, cum laude) and the University of California at Berkeley (M.A. 1976, Ph.D 1981 in Music). His early experiences in music ranged from the study of classical piano to playing electric keyboards in a variety of rock and blues bands. He began composing at age 14 and first undertook formal studies in composition and theory while at Yale. His teachers include Edwin Dugger, Andrew Imbrie, Olly Wilson, Jonathan Kramer, Frank Lewin, and John Mauceri.

He is the Grand Prize Winner of the 2010 Vanguard Premieres International Choral Composition Award and winner of Second Prize in the 2010 International Sacred Arts Composer Competition, as well as the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Composer Fellowship, a California State Artist Fellowship, ASCAP Young Composer's Award, Special Commendations in the ASCAP/Nissim Orchestral Competition and Amherst Choral Competition, and honorable mentions in the 2005 Meistersingers and Vanguard Voices competitions. He is a featured composer in the registry of the Foundation for Sacred Arts and has been recognized on three occasions for Outstanding Merit as a Professor of Music at California State University, East Bay.

Notable recent performances include Echo at the 7th World Symposium on Choral Music in Kyoto, Japan by the San Francisco Girls Chorus; Expectavi Dominum in the Cathedral at Aarschot, Belgium; In This Place at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and O Magnum Mysterium by the Grammy- Award winning Cathedral Choral Society at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Overseas premieres of O Magnum Mysterium and Magnificat in the UK, Exaudi in Brazil, Miserere in Portugal, Sicut Cervus in France, O Nata Lux in Germany and Cantate Domino in Prague have all recently been heard.

La Rocca's music has been recorded by Artist's Vocal Ensemble (AVE), the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Vanguard Voices, Prague Radio Orchestra and Chorus, the Meistersingers, the Alexander String Quartet, cellist Lawrence Granger and the trio, Strata, among others. He is published by Boosey&Hawkes, Walton Music and Santa Barbara Music Publishers.

A founding member, past Executive Director and current Artistic Director of COMPOSERS, INC., La Rocca teaches at California State University, East Bay, where he is Emeritus Professor of Music.

Jeffrey Miller

Jeffrey Miller grew up in the Midwest and in Santa Rosa, California. He studied at San Francisco State University, the University of Southampton, and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he received his Ph.D. in composition. His principal teachers were Roger Nixon, Jacob Druckman, and Robert Starer. He teaches music theory and composition at California State University, East Bay and previously taught at Brooklyn College, Knox College, and the Canberra School of Music. His music has been performed throughout the United States and he has received commissions from the Irving M. Klein String Competition, Musicians' Accord, and the Nova Singers. He has been one of the artistic directors of Composers, Inc. since 1999, and previously served as the group's Executive Director.

Martin Rokeach

Martin Rokeach's music has been performed throughout the United States, Europe and Australia by many orchestras, chamber music ensembles and soloists. In the past year his works have been performed by the Chicago Ensemble, Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, St. Olaf Trio (MN), Cygnus Ensemble (NY), Wyck Trio (U. K.), Sheridan Ensemble (Chicago), Webster Trio (TX), and Anderson-Fader Guitar Duo (NY). His music has earned honors in eleven composition competitions, most recently those sponsored by the International Clarinet Association, the Chicago Ensemble, and Cygnus Ensemble, and he has been commissioned to write music for the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Music Teachers Association of California, Northeastern University Band, and California Association of Professional Music Teachers. His music has been published by Fallen Leaf Press, RonCorp, ALRY, and Dorn, and recorded on the Albany, North/South, Capstone, Amie, Arizona, Furious Artisans and CRS labels. He has been a featured composer and speaker at New York University and Wichita State University, and concerts devoted exclusively to his music have been held at Washington State University and Western Carolina University. Mr. Rokeach earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music from San Francisco State University, and his Ph.D. in composition and theory from Michigan State University. He is a member of the faculty at Saint Mary's College, where he teaches music theory, history and chamber music.

Allen Shearer

Allen Shearer has received many awards in music, including the Aaron Copland Award, the Rome Prize, a Charles Ives Scholarship, an Alfred Hertz Fellowship, residencies at the MacDowell Colony, and several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, including one for the creation of his first opera The Goddess. His choral works have been performed in nearly every state of the US as well as in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia, and South Africa. Active as a baritone as well as a composer, he holds degrees from the Akademie Mozarteum in Salzburg as well as the University of California at Berkeley, and currently teaches at UC and at California State University, East Bay. He is the 2012 Composer-in-Residence for the San Francisco Choral Artists.

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