Vanessa Lann
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summa cum laude 1990[3]
Vanessa Lann | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 6, 1968[1] |
| Education | Tanglewood Institute Royal Conservatory of The Hague |
| Alma mater | Harvard University summa cum laude 1990[3] |
| Occupations | Composer, pianist |
| Years active | 40+ years |
| Employer | ArtEZ University of the Arts and Webster University[3] |
| Style | Contemporary classical |
| Awards | John Knowles Paine Award[1][4] Bohemians Prize,[3] Hugh F. MacColl Prize[3] |
| Website | vanessalann.com |
Vanessa Lann (born April 6, 1968, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American-Dutch composer living in the Netherlands.[5][2]
Lann is known for contemporary compositions for underutilized instruments such as the bass clarinet,[6] bassoon[7][8] and toy piano.[9] Her compositions have been broadcast on radio,[10] recorded on compact discs,[6] and performed in music festivals in Europe and North America. She has written numerous types of compositions, including concertos and operas.[11] In 1990, she was musical director at the American Repertory Theater.[12] Reviewer David Toub described her music as "expertly performed".[13] The New York Times music reviewer Allan Kozinn described her composition Is a Bell ... a Bell? as a "propulsively rhythmic score" which was charming with its use of two toy pianos to bring out "different timbral qualities."[9] Music reviewer Jed Distler described her compositions as "gracious keyboard writing and humor."[14] Dutch music critic for the daily newspaper de Volkskrant, Frits van der Waa, has reviewed her music on numerous occasions. He described her hour-long opera The Silence of Saar in 2013 as an "endless series of mind-numbing variations."[15] He described her music in 2005 as "intense but sweet juicy tension,"[16] and her composition for the Delft Chamber Music Festival in 2007 as "beautiful."[17]
