Draft:Keith Fitch

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Keith Fitch (born May 24, 1966) is an American composer, conductor, and teacher of contemporary classical concert music. He has taught at the Mannes College of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and Bard College. He currently holds the Vincent K. and Edith H. Smith Chair in Composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he is also Head of the Composition Department and directs the CIM New Music Ensemble. His music is published by Non Sequitur Music and Edition Peters and appears on Azica Records and Naxos Digital.

Early Years

Fitch was born in Ft. Wayne, Indiana on May 24, 1966, and began composing at age seven. He began formal musical training on the double bass at age eleven, eventually studying for several years with the principal double bass of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Mann. After winning the Fort Wayne Philharmonic's Young Artist Competition in 1983, he received his first professional orchestral performance as part of a Young People's Concert.

Education

Fitch attended the Indiana University School of Music, from which he received his Bachelor of Music with High Distinction in 1989 (Pi Kappa Lambda, 1987, Phi Eta Sigma, 1986), his Master of Music in 1992, and his Doctor of Music in 1995. While at Indiana, he studied composition with Frederick Fox, Claude Baker, and Eugene O'Brien. He also studied double bass with Bruce Bransby, Murray Grodner, and Lawrence Hurst, and chamber music with Rostislav Dubinsky, founder of the Borodin Quartet. He holds doctoral minors in Music Theory and Twentieth-Century Art History. Outside of Indiana, he also worked with composers Donald Erb and Joan Tower at the June in Buffalo Festival and the Atlantic Center for the Arts, respectively.

Teaching

Since 2008, Fitch has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, holding the Vincent K. and Edith H. Smith Chair in Composition. He has also taught at the Rocky Ridge Music Center, Bard College, Mannes College (now School) of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and the Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East.

He has been guest composer at the Mostly Modern Festival, California Summer Music Festival, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, University of Missouri, Indiana State University Contemporary Music Festival, Bowling Green State University, and the University of Akron.

Notable Students

Among his more notable students are Alex Berko, Ryan Chase, Julián Fueyo, Arseniy Gusev, Jack Hughes, Soomin Kim, Gabriel Novak, Joshua Rodriguez, and Yoav Sadeh.

Career

Selected Works

Orchestra and Large Ensemble

Mirrors (2024, commission, Ellis-Beauregard Foundation for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra)

still (2022-23, commission, Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition)

Alee (2019-2021, commission, Cleveland Institute of Music)

In Memory (2013, commission, Orchestra of the League of Composers)

Summer and Shade: Three Dream-dances for Orchestra (2006/2008)

Totem (1993, commission, New York Youth Symphony, First Music 10)               

The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1991)

Solo and Chamber Music

Shhh! (2023, commission, Modern Snare Drum Competition)

as Earth dreams (2020, commission, Yolanda Kondonassis) for solo harp

Echoes of Orpheus (2019) for solo violoncello, harp, piano, and two percussionists

Ruthless Voicings (2018-19, commission, No Exit Ensemble) for flute/alto flute, bass clarinet, viola, violoncello, and percussion

Three English Sonnets (2015-17) for solo flute/alto flute

Piano Quartet, “Last Words” (2014) for violin, viola, violoncello, and piano

Knock on Wood (2012) for guitar and harp

Cascade: A Fanfare (2012, commission, Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland) for brass and percussion

Mean Fiddle Summer (2011) for solo violin

Midnight Rounds (2010) for flute/bass flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano/celesta

’Tho Night Be Falling (2009, commission, Fromm Music Foundation) for string quartet            

Le tango maudit (2008, based on Le tango sinistre) for two pianos

This Rough Magicke (2008, commission, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble) for flute/alto flute, clarinet, viola, and double bass

Burnt Counterpoint (2007) for alto saxophone and percussion

Manhattan Rolls (2004, commission, James Preiss) for solo five-octave marimba

Dances for Tanja (2002/03) for solo piano [No. I Le tango sinistre; No. II The Last Waltz of Summer; No. III The Transcendental Fandango (Hommage à György)]

To sleep, to dream (2001, rev. 2004, commission, Swarthmore College) for violin, viola, violoncello, double bass, and piano/celesta

Come soon, come soon (2000) for violoncello and piano

Dancing the Shadows (1994) for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, piano, and percussion

December Rhythms (1993, commission, Kevin Elmore) for oboe and string quartet

Todestanzen (1992) for viola and percussion

in the rain-darkness (1990) for violin and piano

Partita (1990) for saxophone quartet

Upon black winter mornings (1989, commission, the Christopher Quartet) for string quartet

Lamentations/diversions (1989) for solo violoncello

Cut River (1988, commission, Kevin Elmore) for solo oboe

where the winter ends... (1987-88) for piano, violin, and violoncello

Nightscape (1986) for flute, oboe, violin, and double bass

Vocal Music

The Range of Light (2016-18, commission, Rocky Ridge Music Center) for baritone, flute/alto flute/bass flute, clarinet, horn, violin, violoncello, and piano

The Imagined Garden (1999) for soprano and piano (texts by Hart Crane)

Two Love-Songs (1997) for soprano and piano (texts by e. e. cummings)

Three Poems of Paul Verlaine (1991) for soprano, violoncello, and percussion (texts by Paul Verlaine)

Songs of the Autumn Rain (1989) for mezzo-soprano and eight players (texts by e. e. cummings)

Honors, Commissions, Residencies

Resident Fellow, The MacDowell Colony, 2025, 2001, 1998

Guest Composer, Mostly Modern Festival, 2025, 2019

Arts and Letters Award in Music, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2024

Individual Excellence Award, Ohio Arts Council, 2024, 2018, 2012

Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 2023

Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Composer Award, 2023

Commission, Modern Snare Drum Competition, 2023

Commission, Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition, University of Chicago, 2022

Commission, Cleveland Institute of Music, 2021

ASCAP Plus Awards, 2017-2025  

Commission, No Exit New Music Ensemble, 2018

Resident Fellow, The Corporation of Yaddo, 2016

Walter Hinrichsen Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2016

ASCAP Plus (Standard) Awards, 1993-2014

Resident Fellow, The Copland House, 2016

Commission, Orchestra of the League of Composers, 2012

Commission, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, 2012

Second Place, Areon Flutes International Composition Competition, 2009

Commission, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, 2007

Resident Fellow, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002

Commission, Fromm Music Foundation, 2005

Finalist, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Composition Prize, University of Connecticut, 2002

Finalist, Philadelphia Orchestra Centennial Composition Competition, 2000

Gilmore and Mary Stott Commission, Swarthmore College, 2000

Honorable Mention, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Composition Contest, 1999

ASCAP Young Composer Awards, 1995, 1993, 1989

Individual Artist Fellowship, Indiana Arts Commission, 1994

Dean’s Prize for Composition, Indiana University, 1994, 1992, 1991, 1989, 1988, 1987

Commission, New York Youth Symphony, First Music 10 Competition, 1993

National Society of Arts and Letters Awards, 1993, 1992, 1990

Resident Fellow, Charles Ives Center for American Music, 1991

Resident Fellow, Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1989

References

Cleveland Institute of Music Faculty Page

Website: Keith Fitch | Composer

Publishers: Non Sequitur Music, Edition Peters

Azica Records

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