JAVS Spring 2011

A NNOUNCEMENTS T HE M AURICE G ARDNER V IOLA C OMPOSITION C OMPETITION

not sufficient funds to sponsor a new project. Nonetheless, the Maurice Gardner Viola Composition Competition com mittee was formed. Michael Palumbo, Dwight Pounds, and Kathy Steely, to name a few origi nal members, did so much to ensure the competition would someday find its way off the ground. After eight years and a couple AVS board rotations, that day arrived. In 2008, Michael Palumbo, Professor of Viola at Weber State University and a former AVS board member, was asked by AVS President Juliet White-Smith to design and implement the project. The competition was announced in March 2009 with a submission deadline of November 1. We remember the day the entries started flooding into Dr. Palumbo’s office in the spring of 2009. He, with the help of his viola student Crystal Hardman, spent dozens of hours cataloging the entries—over one hundred— that were then sent to the judges. The judges for this first competi tion were Paul Elwood, a compos er and faculty member at the University of Northern Colorado; internationally recognized com poser Libby Larsen; and violist and composer Scott Slapin. All three judges volunteered their time and worked tirelessly to organize and evaluate the entries. Rachel Matthews’s Dreams was chosen in February 2010.

Composer Rachel Matthews performs her winning composition, Dreams , at the International Viola Congress (photo courtesy of Dwight Pounds)

by Christina Olson and Ellen Cook

Maurice Gardner died at the age of ninety-three in early 2002, and having been a good friend to many violists, he has been sorely missed. That same year, the AVS received a generous donation from the Gardner family, and this char itable act fostered the idea of keeping Maurice Gardner’s legacy alive. Steven Kruse, AVS treasurer at the time of the gift, contacted several people including Dwight Pounds and AVS President Ralph Fielding and recounted his idea of a competition honoring Mr. Gardner. However, the AVS was already financially involved in the AVS Journal, the Primrose Competition, and the David Dalton Viola Research Competition. Even with the gen erous family donation, there were

The winning composition of the first biennial Maurice Gardner Viola Composition Competition was premiered this past June at the 38th International Viola Congress in Cincinnati, Ohio. The winning composer was Rachel Matthews from Seattle, Washington, and the piece was Dreams , for viola and piano. The piece actually had a joint pre miere: The first premiere took place in April 2010 when violist Helen Callus (to whom the piece is dedicated) and the composer, accompanying on piano, played in Seattle. For the second premiere, the composer was joined by violist Scott Slapin at the viola congress.

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