University News

"Still," a 2019 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music, will be performed at WIU Sept. 4.
[Download Print-Quality Image]

Pulitzer Prize Finalist 'Still' to be Performed at WIU Sept. 4

August 27, 2019

Share |
Printer friendly version

MACOMB, IL – The work that was recognized as a 2019 Pulitzer Prize Finalist, composed by Western Illinois University School of Music Professor James Romig, will be performed on campus at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4 in the College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) Recital Hall.

The 54-minute composition, "Still," will be played by Ashlee Mack, director of piano studies at Knox College. Romig and Mack will give a pre-concert chat prior to the performance at 6:30 p.m.

Admission is free and CDs of the composition, released by New World Records, will be available for sale for $10 following the performance.

"Still," inspired by the work of American abstract expressionist Clyfford Still, was commissioned in 2016 by Mack and others, with support from the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, CO. The piece is made up of 43 individual "iterations" that can be performed in a continuous unbroken strand of music or divided into smaller segments or suites.

Still believed his artwork was best appreciated when it was shown in a gallery containing only his work. He preferred not to sell his paintings, but when he did he tried to keep the works in groups.

After Still's death in 1980, his estate began searching for a way to house his enormous collection. The Clyfford Still Museum was opened in 2011.

Romig said the goal of his composition is to create an environment similar to the experience one has while visiting the museum and wandering from work to work.

"It is the hope that 'Still' is in some ways a 'museum of sound' that provides each listener with a variety of aesthetic pathways to wander and explore," said Romig.

The composition was debuted in 2017 and has since been performed in concert halls, art museums, historic homes and in 'plein air' performances at national parks.

Romig's work has been performed by numerous groups, including Talujon, Harpverk, Iktus, JACK, Khasma, Helix, Chronophonie, Altered Sound, Suono Mobile, Cadillac Moon, Due East, Collide-O-Scope, flutist Harvey Sollberger, violinist Erik Carlson, pianists Ashlee Mack and Taka Kigawa, and the Quad City Symphony. Recordings of his music have been released by New World, Navona, Blue Griffin, and Perspectives of New Music.

He has served as a guest-composer at Eastman, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Illinois, Northwestern and the American Academy in Rome. His artist residencies include Copland House, Centrum, Everglades, Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest.

Mack has performed recitals in Germany, Italy and across the United States. She specializes in contemporary music and has premiered work by many composers and recorded numerous solo albums. She and Katherine Palumbo founded the Khasma Piano Duo in 2012 and together they have recorded many albums.
 
Mack has been an artist-in-residence at Wupatki National Monument, Everglades National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park and Centrum in Fort Worden State Park, WA. She has performed "Still," more than 20 times since its debut, including performances at the Clyfford Still Museum, the Milwaukee Art Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright's historic Cedar Rock estate in Quasqueton, IA.

To learn more about Romig's prize, visit pulitzer.org/finalists/james-romig. To learn more about Romig, visit jamesromig.com. For more information about Mack, visit khasmapianoduo.com/ashlee-mack.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing