Sound-Sculpting the Electric Guitar: T4RS and Multi-amps Concepts
Matthew Halper and V.J. Manzo
Matthew Halper
Matthew Halper has received performances in many leading venues such as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Moores Opera House in Houston, and live on Chicago Radio and Public Television. He received a Whitaker Reading Prize from the American Composers Orchestra for his orchestral work Stalin’s Wake: Homage to Shostakovich. His String Quartet was awarded the Walsum Prize and premiered by principal members of the National Symphony Orchestra. Recordings include the release of his Concerto for Flute and Wind Ensemble on Albany Records (TROY821) which the American Record Guide lauded as “ambitious, ... lyrically dramatic, majestic and broadly American in flavor.” The St. Louis Post Dispatch characterized his Transfiguration as “a most satisfying piece, …and an ultimately mysterious work.” Recent performances of his Trio in Taiwan include the National Theater and Concert Hall in Tapei. Other recent premieres include Shadow on the Andes (for string orchestra) by the Arco Ensemble, Paul Lustig Dunkel, conductor. He was Composer-in-Residence in 2011-12 with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Greater Newark Youth Symphony and in 2013-14 with the New Jersey Youth Symphony. His Prelude and Fugue for Orchestra was performed that season by the NJYS at the Union County PAC. He has lectured on contemporary music, music technology and has had his works performed at conferences of the College Music Society, College Band Directors National Association, National Association of Composers USA, the Society of Composers, the National Flute Association, and at various institutions including the Juilliard School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has received several awards from ASCAP and is a 2000 and 2006 recipient of a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship. As a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, Halper has been exploring the boundaries of art music, progressive rock, heavy metal and jazz-rock fusion with projects such as the instrumental power trio Before the Calm. Dr. Halper is Professor of Music in the Music Conservatory at Kean University where he was awarded the 2006 Presidential Excellence Award for Creative Work and Scholarship, and is Artistic Director of Ars Vitalis: the New Jersey New Music Forum. He received the D.M.A. degree in music composition and theory from the University of Maryland and holds an M.S. degree in applied mathematics, an M.A. degree in composition and theory, and a B.S. degree in electrical engineering.
News
Concerts, Lectures, and Other News
Kean University has joined the ranks of world-renowned colleges and schools of music in offering a music scholarship supported by the prestigious Augustine Foundation.
Under the artistic direction of Matthew Halper, Ars Vitalis introduces audiences to the allure, the drama and impact of the living art of contemporary music composition.
Works List
Shadow on the Andes
for String Orchestra
composed 2015-16
11'
Listen
Prelude and Fugue
for Symphony Orchestra
composed 2011-12
8'
Byron Songs
for Guitar and Choir
I. There is a Pleasure in the Pathless Woods
II. She Walks in Beauty Like the Night
composed 2010-11
12'
Listen
Concerto for Guitar and String Orchestra
composed 2009-10
23'30"
Trio
for Flute, Clarinet and Piano
composed 2008
12'
Listen
The Tempest
for Symphony Orchestra
I. Prospero
II. The Tempest
III. "Be Not Afeard"
composed 2007
based on The Tempest (2003)
8'
Listen
Galatea
for Clarinet and Piano
composed 2006
7'
Concerto for Flute and Wind Ensemble
composed 2004-5
23'
Listen
Transfiguration
for Viola and Guitar
arranged 2004
based on Sonata for Flute and Guitar, mvmt. II
12'
Listen
Anim Z'mirot
for Soprano and Piano
composed 2003 (arranged for Flute and Piano 2005)
4'
Listen
The Tempest
for Mixed Chamber Ensemble
composed 2002-3
16'
Metamorphoses on Hatikvah
for Violin and Piano
composed 2001
9'
Sonata Fantasy
for Violin and Piano
arranged 2001
from Sonata Fantasy for Flute and Piano
13'
Sonata for Flute and Piano
I. Moderately; Pensively
II. Ominously; Forlorn
III. Mischievously
composed 1999-2000
based on Sonata for Flute and Guitar
19'
Sonata for Cello and Piano
I. Slow and Solemn
II. Energetic, with Passion
composed 1999-2000
11'
Remember
for Baritone and Piano
composed 1998-9
4'
Sonata for Flute and Guitar
I. Moderately; Pensively
II. Ominously; Forlorn
III. Mischievously
composed 1997-8
19'
Transfiguration (mvmt. II) may be performed as a separate work
Sonata Fantasy
for Flute and Piano
composed 1995-96
13'
Listen
String Quartet
I. Moderately Fast and Energetic
II. Slow and Plaintive
III. Slow and Solemn; Slightly Fast and Vigorous
composed 1994-96
24'
Listen
Stalin's Wake: Homage to Shostakovich
for Symphony Orchestra
composed 1993-94
15'
Dithyramb
for Piano solo
composed 1993 (revised 2008)
9'40"
Quartet
for Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano
composed 1992-93
9'
Three Dedications for Guitar
I. Danza: Homage to Villa Lobos
II. Aria: Homage to Ravel
III. Toccata: To Keith Fanella
composed 1992-93 (revised 1999)
10'
Listen
Moment Abide
for Piano solo
composed 1992
6'30"
Elegy: In Memoriam Aaron Copland
for Flute and Alto Flute (also arranged for Flute and Clarinet)
composed 1991
4'30"
Two Movements for Flute and Piano
I. Dithyramb
II. Nocturne
composed 1990-91
11'
Listen