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September 18, 2002

Media Contact: Jan Jennings (858) 822-1684


THREE UCSD MUSIC PROFESSORS CHOSEN FOR 2002-2003 ASCAP AWARDS

Anthony Davis, Rand Steiger and Bertram Turetzky, professors of music at the University of California, San Diego, have been selected as recipients of the 2002-2003 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Awards.

The ASCAP Awards are granted each year by an independent panel of music educators, directors and performers to a select group of musicians from throughout the country. They are based on two criteria: the unique prestige value of each writer's catalog of original compositions, and recent performances in areas not surveyed by the society.

Pianist, improviser and composer, Davis joined the UCSD Department of Music faculty in 1998 as a member of its Critical Studies and Experimental Practices (CSEP) program. He is active in operatic, symphonic, choral, chamber, dance, theatre and improvised music; has composed operas and numerous works for chamber ensembles, orchestras and Broadway productions.

Steiger has composed for theatre, dance, film, video, and the concert hall. He co-founded the California E.A.R. Unit, a contemporary music ensemble in residence at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and has designed electronic music studios and developed software for a computer music system.

Steiger has been on the UCSD faculty since 1988 and on occasion conducts SONOR, the university's contemporary music ensemble.

Turetzky is a world-renowned solo performer on the contrabass, credited with raising the status of the contrabass from mere accompanist in an orchestra to a solo instrument in its own right, and hailed as a virtuoso of a caliber unsurpassed by any other contrabass practitioner.

A faculty member since 1968, Turetzky performs jazz, a traditional classical repertoire, and contemporary music of all types, including avant-garde.

The ASCAP awards to Davis, Steiger and Turetzky reflect, according to ASCAP President Marilyn Bergman, the New York-based society's continuing commitment to assist and encourage ASCAP composers of serious music and to join educational institutions "in supporting the growth and development of our nation's musical future."

In addition to the pat on the back for their achievements, ASCAP Award recipients receive seed money for research and development.