Vanessa Lann | |
---|---|
Born |
Brooklyn, NY, USA |
April 6, 1968
Nationality | American |
Education |
Tanglewood Institute Royal Conservatory of The Hague |
Alma mater |
Harvard University Summa Cum Laude 1990 |
Occupation | Composer, pianist |
Years active | 20+ years |
Employer | Webster University |
Style | Contemporary classical |
Awards | John Knowles Paine Award Bohemians Prize, Hugh F. MacColl Prize |
Website | Official website |
Vanessa Lann is an American composer living in the Netherlands. She is known for contemporary compositions for underutilized instruments such as the clarinet,bassoon and toy piano. Her compositions have been broadcast on radio, recorded on compact discs, and performed in music festivals in Europe and North America. She has written numerous types of compositions, including concertos and operas. In 1990, she was musical director at the American Repertory Theater. Reviewer David Toub described her music as "expertly performed".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." Music reviewer Jed Distler described her compositions as "gracious keyboard writing and humor." Dutch music critic for the prominent daily newspaper de Volkskrant, Frits van der Waa, has reviewed her music on numerous occasions. He described her half-hour opera The Silence of Saar in 2013 as an "endless series of mind-numbing variations," he described her music in 2005 as "intense but sweet juicy tension," and her composition for the Delft Chamber Music Festival in 2007 as "beautiful."