Faculty composer Huck Hodge joins the ranks of such iconic modern composers as Arnold Schönberg, Béla Bartók, and Igor Stravinsky with recognition from the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) League of Composers, which recently declared his work Alêtheia for large ensemble the winning entry in its prestigious annual composition competition.

The nation’s oldest organization devoted to contemporary music, the League’s mission is to engage audiences by presenting performances of new music of the highest caliber written by emerging and established living composers in the context of 20th and 21st-century masterpieces. The League’s storied history includes such groundbreaking premieres as Arnold Schönberg’s Die Glückliche Hand, Béla Bartók’s Village Scenes, Samuel Barber’s Piano Sonata and Anton Webern’s Symphony for Chamber Orchestra Op. 21. The League also sponsored the American premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet, Le Sacre du Printemps, many pieces by Aaron Copland, György Ligeti’s Horn Trio, Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Harlequin, and many works by former honorary Board Co-Chairs Elliott Carter and Milton Babbitt.

The award is among numerous honors and commissions awarded to Hodge over the past year. Others include: 

• Commission from the Fromm Music Foundation, Harvard University for the Daedalus String Quartet
•  Commission from the Barlow Endowment for the Divertimento Ensemble, Milan, Italy (large instrumental ensemble and dancers)
•  Commission from the National Concert Hall of Taiwan for the Taipei Chamber Singers (large mixed chorus, computer-realized sound, video, lighting design and choreography)
•  Commission from the University of Chicago for the 50th anniversary of the Contempo series
•  Project grant from the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung as part of the 2014 Rondó Festival

A recording of Alêtheia may be heard on a new CD release of works by Hodge.  Life is Endless Like Our Field of Vision, out now on the New World Records label, includes performances by two New-York-based premiere new music ensembles: the Talea Ensemble and the JACK Quartet, among others.  Funding for the recording was through the UW's Royalty Research Fund, supporting research by UW faculty, and through a grant from the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trust.

More information about Life is Endless Like Our Field of Vision is available here.