Address: 1266 Northfield Road   Brookfield, VT 05036  Telephone: (802) 276-9906 e-mail: erik@eriknielsenmusic.com website: www.eriknielsenmusic.com

EDUCATION

M. M., Composition, Hartt School of Music, 1983; elected to Pi Kappa Lambda, 1983

Winner of outstanding student composer award, 1983

Teacher's Certificate, Orff-Institut, Salzburg, Austria, 1976

B. A., Music and Russian, Bennington College, 1972

Some Recent Commissions and Performances

Summer, for SATB chorus divisi, 2011, premiere 10/13/2011

Trajectory of Flight, for mezzo-soprano and strings, 2011, premiere 10/13/2011

Some Lonesome Valley, work for clarinet, viola and piano, 2010, premiere 5/5/10, Hartt School, W. Hartford, CT

Metallurgy, work for brass quintet, 2009, premiere 5/6/09 Hartt School, W. Hartford, CT

Stay in/Break Out, work for woodwind quintet, 2009, commission, Interdistrict Grant Commission, Simsbury, CT, premiere 5/14/09 by the Borealis Winds

Matt's Tune, work for orchestra, 2008, premiere by the Vermont Youth Orchestra, 12/31/08, Burlington, Vermont

Sonata for Viola and Piano, 2008, premiere 5/8/10 by Elizabeth Reid and Alison Cerutti, Northfield, Vermont

Sprites, a ballet work for orchestra, 2008, premiere May 17, 2008

Cinque Amici (Five Friends), commission, 2007, Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble and Creation Grant, Vermont Arts Council, premiere, April 18, 2008

Quartet for Strings #2, commission, 2007, Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, VT, premiere, March 15, 2008

The Falling of Trees, commission, 2007, Rochester Chamber Music Society, Rochester, VT, work for baritone and piano quartet, premiere July 8, 2007

Three Songs from "Twelfth Night", commission, 2005, Interdistrict Grant Program, Simsbury, CT, work for chorus and strings, premiere 3/17/06

The Crane Maiden, commission, Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, piece for actors, narrator and instrumental ensemble, to be premiered 9/23/2011

Winner, National Symphony Orchestra contest, April, 2002; commissioned work, Quintet for Clarinet and Strings,  premiered at Kennedy Center 3/20/04

Other Professional Activities

New Works Grant, Vermont Community Foundation, 2010

Kittredge Fund Award—2009

Composer Assistance Program Grant—awarded by the American Music Center, 2003, 2008

Creation Grant--awarded by the Vermont Arts Council, 2004, 2007

ASCAP Plus Award--1993-2010

Vermont Composer of the Year, 1991--awarded by the Vermont Music Teachers' Association