Meira Warshauer was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and graduated from Harvard University (magna cum laude), New England Conservatory of Music (with honors), and the University of South Carolina. She studied composition with Mario Davidovsky, Jacob Druckman, William Thomas McKinley, and Gordon Goodwin. Her works have been performed and recorded to critical acclaim throughout the United States and in Israel, Europe, South America, and Asia. She has received numerous awards from ASCAP as well as the American Music Center, Meet the Composer, and the South Carolina Arts Commission. Warshauer was awarded the Artist Fellowship in Music by the South Carolina Arts Commission in 1994, and in 2000, received the first Art and Cultural Achievement Award from the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina.
Warshauer has received commissions from the Dayton (Ohio) Philharmonic, the South Carolina Philharmonic (three orchestra works), the Zamir Chorale of Boston with the Rottenberg Chorale (New York City), Zemer Chai (Washington, DC), Gratz College (Philadelphia), Kol Dodi (New Jersey); the Cantors Assembly, clarinetist Richard Nunemaker, violinist Daniel Heifetz, and flutist Paula Robison. Her CDs include the soundtrack to the documentary Land of Promise: The Jews of South Carolina and Spirals of Light, chamber music and poetry (by Ani Tuzman) on themes of enlightenment, on the Kol Meira label, and Revelation for orchestra, included on Robert Black Conducts (MMC). YES! for clarinet and orchestra, written for and recorded by Richard Stoltzman and the Warsaw Philharmonic, is scheduled for release by MMC in 2004.
Warshauer is on the faculty of Columbia College, Columbia, South Carolina, where she teaches an innovative cross-cultural, multidisciplinary course on the experience of music as a source of healing. Warshauer has devoted much of her work to Jewish themes. In spring 2002, Kol Israel National Radio broadcast an hour-long program to her music. For more information about Meira Warshauer, visit her website at Meira Warshauer.
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Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Wednesday night from Meira in Bratislava
Hi everyone.
I'm glad you got to meet Timi, my wonderful publicist and now my friend here in Bratislava. She really saved me yesterday, bringing me food from the vegetarian restaurant and some cold remedies that really helped. Because of her, I was able to make it through the recording sessions yesterday and felt better foday. We finished recordng Ahavah! I think it will sound great. Jennifer sang beautifully, and the chorus is fantastic and so is their director, Blanka, and so is Kirk and the orchestra, and so are the engineers! So you see we have quite a team of players that makes it possible to put together a recording like this. And I didn't even mention Kirk's wife, Maria, a harpist, who organizes everything for this project with Kirk. And you must know that I feel the support of all of you who have encouraged me in so many ways to bring this project to fruition.
Tomorrow night is the concert, broadcast live on Sloavak Radio! Timi already wrote how to hear it on live stream internet. I hope it will work. I don't know if you will see the title of the concert or not. But it will be live broadcast at 7 p.m. Slovak time, which is 1 p.m. EST. I am told they made a poster with the title "Music from the Jewish Heart"--nice, I think. I was interviewed by a magazine at lunch today and tried to be coherent with a message of love and peace that I feel this music represents. I hope I'll be more articulate tomorrow night for the TV interview that is supposed to take place at the concert--don't know when--intermission or after, I hope.
In the middle of all the activity, I have flashes of being so grateful for having this music come through me and for now being able to offer it to the world through the recording. Hearing the narration in Slovak is very moving---making concrete that this music will be broadcast here in Slovakia bringing its message of peace and love. I am privileged to be a part of this amazing unfolding, and pray that this music, inspired by the traditional Jewish texts, will help bring some light and wisdom to point us towards a hopeful future.
I hope you are all well. More from here tomorrw.
Love,
Meira
posted by Meira Warshauer
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