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Trio of music faculty receive grant from the Alabama Council on the Arts

Grant allows faculty to commission five composers to write musical works celebrating distinct cultural aspects of Alabama

The Elicio Winds, a woodwind trio comprised of Auburn University music faculty Virginia Broffitt Kunzer, flute, Kathleen Carter Bell, oboe, and Conor Bell, bassoon, recently received a grant from the Alabama Council on the Arts to commission five composers to write musical works celebrating distinct cultural aspects of Alabama.

This stylistically diverse panel of composers will write musical works inspired by Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, Alabama's contribution to NASA and space exploration, the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, including the Rosenbaum House, and Alabama's rich tradition of folk song and spirituals. The final commissioned work will be a multimedia presentation, combining live music and filmed images of Alabama's diverse natural landscapes.

This interdisciplinary project will make lasting contributions to the field while celebrating the arts and providing a sense of community, pride in traditions, and unique collaborations.

​The composers for this project are:

Timothy Hagen – freelance composer, subject: To Kill a Mockingbird

Joshua Burel – University of Alabama in Huntsville, subject: Alabama’s contribution to NASA and space exploration

Margi Griebling-Haigh – freelance composer, subject: Frank Lloyd Wright and Rosenbaum House

Shawn Okpebholo – Wheaton College, subject: Alabama's rich tradition of folk song and spirituals

Craig Michael Davis – Indiana University, subject: Multimedia work featuring Alabama's diverse natural landscapes

Tags: Arts and Culture Faculty Music