Individualized Learning Stories
Scoring Films (and awards!)
Fred Sturm & Garth Neustadter '10
For someone who is not a music composition major, Garth Neustadter ’10 keeps drawing attention for his scoring talents.
Neustadter recently added to a growing list of honors as one of 37 national winners of the 2010 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. The program grants cash prizes to young concert composers whose works are selected through a juried national competition. (This year’s competition attracted more than 700 entries.)
Neustadter submitted a 15-minute composition written for full orchestra and choir based on a Spanish text entitled “Oh llama de amor viva.”
“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized,” said the violin and voice performance major from Manitowoc. “The judges were particularly impressed with the recording, which featured members of the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir. That serves as a testament to the high level of music-making going on at Lawrence.”
Two years ago Turner Classic Movies commissioned Neustadter to write an original score for a restored version of the 1923 silent film “The White Sister.” He is currently writing a score for a documentary on the life of John Muir for Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and 1972 Lawrence graduate Catherine Tatge. The film is scheduled to air on public TV’s “American Masters” series in April 2011.
“Garth never ceases to amaze us with his stunning array of accomplishments,” said Fred Sturm, Neustadter’s faculty composition mentor and honors project advisor. “The national recognition he’s garnered with the awards he has won as a composer sometimes veils the fact that Garth is an equally talented violinist, saxophonist and singer. And despite all of the accolades, he remains a respectful, humble and solidly grounded individual. We’re enormously proud.”
