Laura Kaminsky (born September 28, 1956) is an American composer, producer of musical and multi-disciplinary cultural events, and educator. She was born in New York City, graduated from the High School of Music and Art, and studied with Joseph Wood at Oberlin College and Mario Davidovsky at City College of New York. She graduated from City College/CUNY with a Master of Arts degree in composition in 1980.
Kaminsky has maintained an active composing studio and has had her music performed internationally. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and fellowships (see below). In addition, her music has been extensively recorded. She has received national recognition for her innovative cultural programming and has held posts at a number of important institutions including New York City's 92nd Street Y, Town Hall, and Symphony Space, where she is currently artistic director. In 1984 she co-founded and remains the artistic director of the new music collective, Musicians Accord, which is in residence at City College of New York, where the ensemble members work with Professor David Del Tredici and his graduate composition students.
From 1992-93 Kaminsky lived and worked in Ghana, where she taught at the National Academy of Music and produced a series of concerts, including a conference on African Music: Tradition and Innovation. From 1996-97 she served as director of the European Mozart Academy, an international post-graduate music fellowship program based in Poland that brought together talented young musicians from Western and Eastern Europe to study and perform in concerts across Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. From 1999-2004 she served as chair of the music department at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, and from 2004-08 was dean of the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College State University of New York when she left to assume the post of artistic director of New York City's multi-disciplinary performing arts center, Symphony Space, succeeding its founding director, Isaiah Sheffer. In addition, she continues to teach composition and arts management at Purchase College.
Honors and awards
For Composing:
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowship, 2012Hermitage Artist Retreat Center Residency Fellowship, 2012Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress Commissioning Award, 2011Centrum Artist Residency Fellowship, Port Townsend, WA, 2011Meet the Composer Met Life Creative Connections Residency Grant, 2011Faculty Support Award, Purchase College, 2011Seal Bay Chamber Music Festival Composer-in-Residence Fellowship, 2011Meet the Composer Met Life Creative Connections Residency Grant, 2010Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble Residency, Staten Island, NY, 2010-2011Lucy Moses School of Music Chamber Music Commission, 2010–11Dorland Mountain Artists Colony Residency Fellowship, 2010New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artists Commission, 2010Hermitage Artist Retreat Center Residency Fellowship, 2009-2011Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency Fellowship, 2009-2010Copying Assistance Program Grant/American Music Center, 2009Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency Fellowship, 2009Meet the Composer Met Life Creative Connections Residency Grant, 2009Kenan Institute for the Arts Commission, 2009Lucy Moses School of Music, Kaufmann Cultural Center and Women’s Work Music Co-Commission, 2008Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize (“Terra Terribilis: Concerto for Three Percussionists and Orchestra”), 2008Centrum Artist Residency Fellowship, Port Townsend, WA, 2008Lucy Moses School of Music Chamber Music Commission, 2007-2008Purchase College Professional Development Award, 2007Centrum Artist Residency Fellowship, Port Townsend, WA, 2007Lucy Moses School of Music Chamber Music Commission, 2006-2007Purchase College Professional Development Award, 2007Centrum Artist Residency Fellowship, Port Townsend, WA, 2007Lucy Moses School of Music Chamber Music Commission, 2006-2007Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency Fellowship, 2006CEC ArtsLink Projects Award, 2006National Endowment for the Arts commission, 2005North Carolina Arts Council Grant, 2004Centrum Artist Residency Fellowship, Port Townsend, WA, 2004Jordan Foundation Commissioning Grant, 2003Icicle Creek Music Center Visiting Composer Residency, Leavenworth, WA, 2003Cornish College of the Arts Professional Development Award, 1999-2004Artist Trust GAP Grant, 2002Jory Copying Assistance Program Grant/American Music Center, 2001American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters: nominated for composer award (Joan Tower), 2001Seattle Arts Commission Performing Artists Award, 2001King County Arts Council Special Projects Grant [through Odeon String Quartet], 2001Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency Fellowship, 1999Serage Foundation Artist Grant, 1998National Endowment for the Arts Recording Grant [through Musicians Accord], 1995Meet the Composer Grants, 1983-1997; 1999, 2000; 2002Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency Fellowship, 1992Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency Fellowship, 1991National Flute Association, Finalist, Newly Published Works Competition, 1991Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency Fellowship, 1990Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency Fellowship, 1989New York State Council on the Arts Recording Grant, 1987Millay Colony for the Arts Residency Fellowship, 1986Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency Fellowship, 1985Millay Colony for the Arts Residency Fellowship, 1984American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters: nominated for composer award (Miriam Gideon), 1986Panopticon/New York Women Composers Competition, 1986Composers' Forum: New Music/New Composers Competition, 1985American Society for Jewish Music Competition, 1985American Women Composers National Competition, 1984Tuch Foundation Fellowship, 1978–80For Presenting/Producing:
Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage 2010 Chopin Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Legacy of the Great ComposerCEC ArtsLink/Likhachev Foundation Grant to support Wall to Wall Behind the Wall, Russia, 2010Trust for Mutual Understanding Grant to support Wall to Wall Behind the Wall, 2010Likhachev Foundation & Russkiy Mir Foundation Cultural Fellowship to St. Petersburg, Russia, 2009NEA American Masterpieces for “The 1939 Project: American Arts at a Turning Point” at Symphony Space, 2008–09Wachovia Foundation for “Africa and the African Diaspora: Traditions, Revolutions and Innovations,” 2007-08Mellon Foundation for “Africa and the African Diaspora: Traditions, Revolutions and Innovations” New York Festival and Symposum, 2007-2008New York State Music Fund for “New Latin Music for New Audiences,” a part of “Africa and the African Diaspora: Traditions, Revolutions and Innovations,” 2006-2008Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming as Artistic Director of the Cornish Music Series, 2003Aaron Copland Fund for Music Supplemental Program Grants for “The Cornish Music Series” in 2003/04, 2002/03 and “Copland & Weill: A Centenary Celebration” in 2000Aaron Copland Fund for Music Performing Ensembles Grants for Musicians Accord, 1990-2002Jack Straw Productions Artist Support Grant as Director of Musicians Accord to record “The Brazil Project,” 2000Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming as Artistic Director of The Town Hall, NYC, First Prize, 1991Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming as Artistic Director of The Town Hall, NYC, First Prize, 1990Citation from the Office of the Manhattan Borough President for Service to New York as Artistic Director of The Town Hall, 1989Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming as Artistic Director of The Town Hall, Second Prize, 1989Kaminsky has a large catalog of works, and composes mostly chamber and vocal music. Selected works include:
Operas:
Some Light EmergesOrchestral:
Terra Terribilis: Concerto for Three Percussionists and OrchestraPIano ConcertoString Quartets:
TransformationsTransformations II: Music for a Changing WorldMonotypesAmerican NocturneCadmium YellowChamber Music:
Vukovar TrioDuo for Flute and PianoDuo for Cello and PianoWave Hill for Violin and PianoAnd Trouble Came: An African AIDS DiaryTwilight SettingsProverbs of HellWhence it ComesInerpolations on Utopia ParkwaySolo Piano:
FantasyMusic for ArturCalendar MusicTriftmusikDanza PiccolaOther solo works:
The Great Unconformity (cello)Isole (cello)Until a Name (flute)Songs:
Rise, My LoveWhitman Songs
