Composer scores a prestigious award

An early Christmas present recently reached Liviu Marinescu, the new chairman of composition and theory at Cal State Northridge.

Marinescu, 32, found out he’s one of 12 American composers to receive a prestigious 2002 Fromm Music Foundation commission to write a new work. Selected from a field of 150 applicants by a panel of composers, Marinescu and the others each will receive a $10,000 commission fee, plus a subsidy for the ensemble performing the premiere of the new work.

“The award is not necessarily about me,” Marinescu said. “It’s a validation of the kind of music that I write, that we young composers write.

“That means concert music that is intellectually stimulating, aesthetically pleasing and emotionally fulfilling. Trying to find that balance is probably the most difficult thing for us today.”

Born in Romania, Marinescu came to the United States eight years ago at the invitation of Edwin London, conductor of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, which performed a number of Marinescu’s works.

Marinescu’s music ranges from solo instrument sonatas to large orchestral pieces and includes film scores and music for plays.

For the Fromm commission, Marinescu said he plans to write a large orchestral work lasting about 15 minutes.

He expects to finish the score within two years.

-- Chris Pasles