Composer Tania León (left) and conductor Malcolm J. Merriweather.
In Thursday’s (3/28) Musical America (subscription required), Susan Elliott writes, “The Brooklyn College and its School of Visual Media and Performing Arts (SVMPA) has just announced its first-ever chair in music, which has been named in honor of composer Tania León and funded by the Connecticut-based Tow Foundation. Leon was on the faculty for 15 years before retiring in 2000 at which time she was named Tow Distinguished Professor. She is now emeritus. She has a remarkable career as a composer and educator. Among her many awards is the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in music … [and] a 2022 Kennedy Center Honor … She is … composer-in-residence of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and occupies the… Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall.” León delivered a plenary address at the League of American Orchestras’ 2019 National Conference and has been commissioned by the League’s Board to write a score in honor of former League President and CEO Jesse Rosen. “The first to occupy the chair is conductor Malcolm J. Merriweather, on the BC faculty since 2015. A protégé of Kent Tritle, he is the conductor of the Dessoff Choir and trains the free-lance chorus of the New York Philharmonic … He will assume the chair position in the Fall of 2024.”
