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News From Meadows: Vincent Gover ’14 Wins Composition Competition

Vincent Gover ’14, a master’s student in the music composition program at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, won first place in the American Modern Ensemble (AME) Ninth Annual Composition Competition. Gover won in the Tier 1 (young artist, ages 22 and under) category for his seven-and-a-half-minute long composition Brook’s Release.

By Victoria Winkelman
Meadows School of the Arts
Vincent Gover ’14, a master’s student in the music composition program at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, won first place in the American Modern Ensemble (AME) Ninth Annual Composition Competition. Gover won in the Tier 1 (young artist, ages 22 and under) category for his seven-and-a-half-minute long composition Brook’s Release. Inspired by a summer trip to Colorado, the piece evokes the wide-ranging movement of a river from quiet flow to rapid whitewater, blending excitement, humor and energy.

Brooks Release by Vincent Gover ’14, a master’s student in the music composition program at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, won first place in the American Modern Ensemble (AME) Composition Competition.
Brooks Release by Vincent Gover ’14, a master’s student in the music composition program at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, won first place in the American Modern Ensemble (AME) Composition Competition.

In addition to receiving a cash prize, he will have his piece performed by the AME in a New York concert in April 2016 and will receive an archival recording.
“I’m truly honored that the American Modern Ensemble selected my piece as their Tier I winner,” says Gover. “I know they’ll give a wonderful performance of my work, and I can’t wait to be there!”
This year’s contest drew 181 entries from North, Central and South America. The judges were nationally acclaimed composers Margaret Brouwer, Steven Burke and Robert Paterson, AME’s artistic director.
Gover, who earned a bachelor of music in composition and horn performance at SMU Meadows in 2014, is no stranger to awards. In January 2011, when he was a first-year student, his composition Children’s Suite was performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., by the Saxony-Anhalt Brass Quintet, an ensemble of principal performers from German orchestras on a U.S. tour. Later that year, he was named the 2011-12 William H. Lively Student Composer in Residence with the Irving Symphony in Irving, Texas. Gover has studied with such award-winning composers as Robert Paterson, David Ludwig, Xi Wang, Paul Rudy and Robert J. Frank and has had works performed throughout the U.S., including in Dallas, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
About the American Modern Ensemble
Founded in New York in 2005, the American Modern Ensemble is a contemporary classical music ensemble that spotlights American music via lively thematic programming, performing a wide repertoire by living composers. The mission of AME is to create definitive performances of the highest caliber for the widest possible audience base. It supports its mission by presenting live concerts, making recordings and presenting premieres. AME also conducts an annual competition for composers of all ages. Winners receive a performance with a recording, videography and cash awards.

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