composer

A student of Alban Berg and Nadia Boulanger, Ross Lee Finney (1906-1997) was an American composer and professor of music at Smith College from 1929 to1949; then professor of composition and composer in residence at the University of Michigan from 1949 to 1973. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1927 for his First String Quartet, and was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships, one Rome Prize and elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1962. Influential in modern composition and electronic music, his students include George Crumb as well as Roger Reynolds, who also may be found on Bronze by Gold.

Performances

Virtuosity's Velocity
Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory | November 13, 2010
Concert Details
Interface
Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory | May 17, 1997
Concert Details

News and Press

[Concert Review] Fuse Classical reviews BMOP's "Virtuosity’s Velocity"

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) kicked off its season with a Jordan Hall program on November 13. Entitled “Virtuosity’s Velocity,” the concert was devoted to five American works for chamber orchestra. The music was demanding and difficult, but conductor Gil Rose did indeed elicit plenty of virtuosity from his ensemble.

The Arts Fuse Full review
[Concert Review] Vigorous BMOP romps through Adams symphonies and more

For its season-opening concert, “Virtuosity’s Velocity,” the Boston Modern Orchestra Project trained its sights on the chamber orchestra — an ensemble whose unique flexibility can incorporate the weight and timbral range of the orchestra and the responsiveness of chamber music. All the music was American, creating a sort of microhistory of the genre’s many iterations.

The Boston Globe Full review
[Concert Review] All-American electricity

For its seasonal opener “Virtuosity’s Velocity,” on Saturday, November 13 at Jordan Hall, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project chose to present an all-American program in a chamber-orchestra size. (In the old days, there were more players on stage than audience members.) The program included works by John Coolidge Adams, Arthur Berger, Ross Lee Finney, and Scott Wheeler. All these composers except Wheeler flirted with serial techniques, only to abandon them later.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer Full review