| Laurence Bitensky, composer and pianist, is currently an associate professor of music at Centre College. He teaches composition, music theory, musicianship, world music, and piano.
A native of New York, he received a B.M. in piano performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, a M.M. in composition from Ithaca College, and a D.M.A. in composition from Cornell University. He studied composition with Karel Husa, Roberto Sierra, Steven Stucky, and Dana Wilson.
Bitensky has gained wide recognition in the last few years with numerous awards and distinctions. Most recently, he has attracted attention for Awake, You Sleepers!, a concerto for trumpet and wind ensemble commissioned by the prestigious Fromm Foundation and described as "one of the finest additions to the trumpet and wind ensemble literature to date." Recognized by the Big Ten Band Directors Association and Saint Mary's University Kaplan Commissioning Project, the piece was premiered by John Hagstrom of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra under the direction of Tim Reynish at the 2002 International Trumpet Guild conference in Manchester, England. The piece has subsequently been performed and recorded by several outstanding soloists and wind ensembles, and at venues such as the 2003 World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles conference in Sweden.
Bitensky's orchestral work, A Perfect Rest, was selected the winner of the Omaha Symphony new music competition and awarded a special distinction in the 2002 ASCAP Rudolf Nissim Prize. It has been performed by the Omaha Symphony, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and the Harrid Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. Mark Laycock of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra describes it as "an extraordinarily sensitive and beautiful work . . .that speaks directly to the heart.”
Other recent honors include the Kentucky Arts Council's 2001 Al Smith Artist Fellowship Award and an award from the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation.
Bitensky's song cycle, Mishb'rey yam , settings of texts by Yehuda Halevi, gained him recognition by the Music Teachers National Association as the Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year in 1999. Bitensky was also selected by the Kentucky Music Teachers Association as the 1999 Composer of the Year. He has received several Margaret Fairbank Jory Awards and various awards from ASCAP, including an ASCAP Foundation Grant to Young Composers. His piano work, Shouts and Murmurs, was the winning entry in the 1997 Friends and Enemies of New Music Composition Competition and the 1997 Modern Chamber Players Composition Competition. Other awards include a John James Blackmore Prize, a Sage Fellowship, a Smadbeck Award, and a Filene scholarship.
Recorded on Mark Records and Sea Breeze Vista records, Bitensky's music has been performed by numerous ensembles and at various festivals around the world.
College news contact:
Communications Office
Centre College
Danville, KY 40422
Telephone 859-238-5719
File last updated:
9/5/08
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