Frances Richard, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Vice-President and Director of Concert Music and Gary Hill, President of the CBDNA (College Band Directors National Association), today jointly announced the second bi-annual ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize winner. The competition, named for living legend Frederick Fennell, ASCAP member and founder of the CBDNA, was established to encourage gifted American composers to create new works for Concert Band. The winning work was selected via a juried national competition, which attracted submissions from eligible composers (between the ages of 18 and 30) from across the United States.

The $5000 Prize, for a wind ensemble work, has been awarded to Yotam Haber, age 28, for "Espresso,” which will be performed during the National CBDNA Conference in New York City on February 24, 2005 by Rutgers University Wind Ensemble at NYU’s Skirball Center. Haber was commissioned to write “Espresso” by Cornell University. The premiere was performed by the Cornell University Wind Ensemble, conducted by David Conn at Ithaca College in 2004. Haber is a 2004 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award winner. He has been a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Aspen Music Festival, and been in residence at the Aaron Copland House, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Haber received his Doctoral Degree from Cornell University. Born in Holland, and a citizen of Israel, Haber currently resides in New York City and is Information Services Coordinator at the American Music Center.

Commenting on the ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize, Dr. Fennell said: “So much of my life has been concerned with the wind band and its critical need for an ever growing repertory. This joint project is something I could only dream of -- seventy years ago -- and here it is, thanks to ASCAP and the CBDNA.”

Gary Hill, President of the CBDNA said, "Today's young composers will play a major role in determining the future of concert music. CBDNA is, therefore, very pleased to collaborate with ASCAP in recognizing and encouraging fresh, creative voices through the Fennell Prize."

Frances Richard of ASCAP said, “ASCAP takes great pride in collaborating with the CBDNA to recognize the outstanding young composers whose works are awarded the Fennell Prize.”

Additional works selected for Special Distinction and Honorable Mention by the Jury will be circulated to ensembles performing at regional CBDNA conferences.

Recognized for Special Distinction:
Eric Knechtges, age 26, Lansing, MI - “Broken Silents” for wind ensemble.

Honorable Mention:
Joseph Eidson, age 22, Jefferson City, MO - “Chadron” for wind ensemble.
Eli Marshall, age 27, Montville, ME - "Grand Laudations" for concert band.
Daniel Perttu, age 25, Columbus, OH - “Atop Black Balsam” for wind ensemble.
Carl Schimmel, age 29, Wakefield, RI - “The Blatherskite’s Comeuppance” for wind ensemble.

The ASCAP composer/judges for the 2004 competition were: Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, David Del Tredici, and Melinda Wagner. The conductor jurors selected by CBDNA were Thomas Duffy (Yale University) and Charles Peltz (New England Conservatory of Music).

CBDNA members are devoted to the study, teaching, and performance of music, with a particular focus on music created for the numerous kinds of wind bands found throughout today's musical landscape.

2004 marks the 90 th anniversary of the founding of ASCAP.   As the world's largest Performing Rights Organization, ASCAP has nearly 200,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher members representing all genres of music.   ASCAP is committed to protecting the rights of its members by licensing and collecting royalties for the public performance of their copyrighted works, and then distributing these fees to the Society's members based on performances.   ASCAP's Board of Directors is made up solely of writers and publishers, elected by the membership every two years.  

Haber describes "Espresso"
Espresso was the first work I wrote in New York City. It was written in a tiny studio just big enough for an upright piano, a chair, a desk, and an espresso machine - the bare necessities for a composer (Beethoven drank seventeen cups a day). This dark, short, concentrated shot of a piece is concerned with the development of a flitting, whirring motive first played by a pair of clarinets and then expanding out in both directions, always in instrumental pairs. A climax is reached, and after a brass interruption, a set of colorful, mercurial variations follow. The work ends with a calm coda of weightless whispers…an aftertaste, faintly recalling flavors just experienced.