Composition
Richard Drehoff Jr. is a composer and pianist interested in creating works that explore a level of vulnerability between performers and audiences. His music strives to manipulate our perceptions of time to develop a unique psychological affect for each piece, often juxtaposing the most fragile of sounds with obtrusive and harsh sonorities.
Richard is currently a doctoral student at Peabody Conservatory, studying with Michael Hersch. He also holds degrees from Peabody in composition (M.M.) and theory pedagogy (M.M.), studying with Michael Hersch and Felipe Lara, and a degree in music and mathematics (B.M.) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Learn more at www.richarddrehoff.com. (Bio accurate as of December 2020.)
Selected Works & Commissions
2021
If there is a dead thing still rotting. Solo flute and recited text (one performer) [10 minutes]. Written for Denis Savelyev, based on a text by Muriel Leung.
2020
shadow of a difference / falling. Oboe alone [4 minutes]. Commissioned by the Dina Koston and Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music in the Library of Congress. Written for Andrew Nogal, as part of the Boccaccio Project.
sullen in this sable mire, For with unspoken words we cannot say. Bass clarinet, piano, percussion, and double bass [5 minutes]. Written for members of Talea Ensemble (Rane Moore, Steve Beck, Matt Gold, and Greg Chudzik).
AF632, from That has such people in it. String quartet [18 minutes]. Commissioned by earspace for its program “What if the truth is not enough?”
2019
Selected Juried Artist Residencies, Fellowships, & Awards
2021
Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts; Nebraska City, NE. 08/16–27.
Finalist, Morton Gold Young Composer Awards Competition; ASCAP Foundation.
P. Bruce Blair Award in Composition; The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
2018
James Tenney Memorial Symposium Composition Fellow; New Mexico Contemporary Ensemble; Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM.
2017
Thelma Thompson Award in Composition, for “effervescent widgets”; The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.