The Esoterics

For Immediate Release: February 18, 2010

SEATTLE - Since 2006, Seattle’s premiere a cappella choral ensemble, The Esoterics, has solicited applications for the annual POLYPHONOS competition from music institutes and schools throughout the world. The annual competition was established as part of the group’s mission to support and promote contemporary choral music. From each year’s submissions The Esoterics grants three commissions: one to an American composer, one to an international composer and one to a young composer (under age 30). Each winner receives $1000 for his/her piece as well as funding for travel to Seattle to hear the work premiered. The Esoterics is proud to announce the winners from this year’s pool of over 100 applicants, who are being commissioned for the 2010 season.

The recipient of the young composer commission, Joshua Shank, received his undergraduate degree from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where he studied conducting with Weston Noble and composition with John Morrison and Neil Flory. In 2002, he became the youngest composer ever awarded the Raymond W. Brock Student Composition Award by the American Choral Directors Association. He has served as composer-in-residence for the Minneapolis-based professional choir, The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists since the group was founded in 2004 and, alongside Artistic Director Matthew Culloton, has collaborated annually to enlarge and expand the repertoire for professional-caliber ensembles. For more information, please see the composer’s web site: http://www.joshuashank.com

The national winner, Shawn Crouch has studied composition with Martin Bresnick, Ezra Laderman and Malcolm Peyton and conducting with Marguerite Brooks and Leo Wanenchak. He has been a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and the Norfolk Music Festival where he studied with Osvaldo Golijov, Michael Gandolfi and Augusta Read Thomas. He has attended the Berklee College of Music and The Peabody Preparatory studying classical/jazz piano, composition and horn. Mr. Crouch received his B.M. in composition from the New England Conservatory with honors and distinction in performance, and his M.M. in composition from the Yale School of Music. Shawn Crouch currently serves on the faculty at Hunter College Campus School in New York City, as well as the Walden School for Young Composers in Dublin, New Hampshire. The New York Times describes Shawn Crouch’s work as music of "gnarling atonal energy". More information can be found at http://shawncrouchmusic.com

The international award winner, British composer, Bernard Hughes was recently awarded his PhD in Composition from London University. Bernard’s music has been performed by several leading performers and ensembles such as the BBC Singers and has been heard at venues including Coventry Cathedral and London’s South Bank Centre. His children’s opera Chincha-Chancha Cooroo was premiered to acclaim in 2006 and had its American premiere in the spring of 2009. Bernard writes regularly in the new music periodical Tempo and contributes a regular column to New Notes, the magazine of Sound and Music (formerly SPNM). For more information visit http://www.bernardhughes.co.uk/index.htm

The Esoterics looks forward to performing these three composers’ commissioned works at VIVIDA in October of the 2010 season. In working with the theme of the concert, the awardees have selected a work of art or a visual theme on which to base their commissioned pieces. In anticipation of the 2010 POLYPHONOS concert The Esoterics will run their second annual POLYPHONOS summer drive. In 2009, this summer campaign yielded enough funds to cover the costs of commission and travel for the composers. In 2010, the POLYPHONOS summer fund drive this year will also help offset the costs of incorporating visual media into the concerts.

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"We very much look forward to collaborating with artists in visual media," says Founding Director Eric Banks. "The Esoterics is all about continuing a cappella choral music as an art form and we are eager for the opportunity to draw the audience into a multimedia contemporary art experience."

In February, 2010, the 2011 POLYPHONOS competition will begin again, as the group begins receiving a new pool of applicants. Each applicant will submit a portfolio of three a cappella choral pieces, and The Esoterics’ founding director, along with a select board of composers, directors, and experienced choral singers review the submissions.

"POLYPHONOS is a real point of pride for The Esoterics," says Bayta Maring, Board President. "It is a way for us to contribute financially and artistically to our mission of perpetuating contemporary a cappella choral music. Performing the commissioned pieces and meeting the composers is always a high point of our season.”

Please see The Esoterics’ web site: http://www.TheEsoterics.org for more information about the POLYPHONOS competition and the 2010 winners.

The Esoterics has presented dozens of local and international premieres, and has tackled the most challenging works of 20th and 21st century choral repertoire. Now in its seventeenth season with founding director Eric Banks, the ensemble has drawn national and international praise for presenting the many styles that comprise contemporary choral music. In 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2008, The Esoterics’ commitment to innovative concert repertoire was nationally recognized when ASCAP and Chorus America granted the ensemble its coveted Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. The ensemble was also honored to be selected as the only North American chorus to compete at the 2000 International Choral Festival in Cork, Ireland, the 2001 International Choral Festival in Tolosa, Spain, and the 2006 Harald Andersén International Choir Competition in Helsinki, Finland.

If you have additional questions about Polyphonos or The Esoterics (media contact only), please contact Scott Kovacs,