Natural Melodies | The Composers
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Cleveland Institute of Music partnered on this unique project to bring music to the Museum’s galleries and enable students to share their music with the Museum’s audiences.
The Cleveland Institute of Music is a leading international conservatory whose mission is to provide talented students with a professional, world-class education in the art of music. The Institute ranks among the top tier music schools across the nation, offering degree programs through doctoral level. Founded in 1920, CIM maintains a close relationship with The Cleveland Orchestra.
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Jeremy Allen holds a master’s degree in composition from the University of Kentucky and is now a doctoral candidate at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has studied with award-winning composers Joseph Baber and Margaret Brouwer. Mr. Allen grew up on a 400-acre farm in the rolling hills of western Iowa.
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Michael Bratt received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Kent State University, Berklee College of Music and Cleveland State University, and is now a doctoral candidate in composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Mr. Bratt has received numerous honors, including the Berklee Achievement in Composition, Cleveland State Undergraduate Composer 2003 and the 2005 Bain Murray Composition Award.
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Alexandra T. Bryant is a junior at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She spent two years studying violin with Dr. Maria Sampen and composition with Dr. Robert Hutchinson at the University of Puget Sound. Her compositional ideas have been sparked by a broad range of musical influences, including rock, folk, Scandinavian and American style fiddle, as well as various film scores.
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David Kim studies composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Born in Seoul, Korea, Mr. Kim came to the United States at age 11, where he began studying piano with Judith Schultz and Judith Ferencz. He began studying composition with Dr. Glen Caldwell when he was a sophomore in high school.
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Mark Nowakowski is a doctoral candidate at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also the composer-in-residence for the Canton Symphony. Mr. Nowakowski earned a Master of Music degree in composition from the University of Colorado, where he studied with Daniel Kellogg, John Drumheller and Michael Theodore. He graduated with honors in both music composition and arts technology from Illinois State University, where he studied with Steven Taylor, Jim Boitos and David Feurzeig.
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Matthew F. Smith is an undergraduate trombonist, studying composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has been composing since the age of 12. Mr. Smith’s understanding of the sublime interplay between music, musician and audience results in a dynamic product enjoyed by both performer and audience alike. His compositions encompass a broad range of musical genres, from neo-Romanticism to contemporary music to jazz.
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John HC Thompson undertook early composition training with Dr. Lee Heriage at the University of Toledo. He moved to Cleveland in 1997 to pursue an undergraduate degree at the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music, graduating magna cum laude in 2000. He is now a student at the Cleveland Institute of Music, completing studies for a master’s degree in composition.
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Margaret Brouwer: Head of CIM Composition Department
Margaret Brouwer holds the Vincent K. and Edith H. Smith Chair in Composition, is Head of CIM Composition Department and Director of CIM New Music Ensemble. She has received many awards and commissions, including a 2006 Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; 2005 Ohio Arts Council Individual Fellowship; a 2004 Guggenheim Fellowship; the 2003 Ohioana Music Citation; the 1999 Cleveland Arts Prize in composition; and grants from the NEA, Ford Foundation, Knight Foundation, Meet the Composer, Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Indiana Arts Commission. She was appointed to the faculty at CIM in 1996.
Composer portraits by Liz Russell, CMNH Staff Photographer