Composer Howard Frazin lives in Cambridge, MA, where he taught Composition at the Longy School of Music from 1991–2009, was a former president and member of Composers in Red Sneakers for many years, and is the co-founder and co-director of WordSong, a new concert format that creates public conversation about intuitive musical experience.
His music has been performed throughout the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Venezuela, and Russia, including festivals at Tanglewood, Aspen, Banff, Rockport, Monadnock, Bowdoin, the Rivers Conservatory, and Yellow Barn. Recent commissions include from Triple Helix, A Far Cry, the Claremont Trio, the Boston Classical Orchestra, the Fromm Foundation, World-wide Concurrent Premieres, the PALS Children’s Chorus, Andover Chamber Players, the Longy School of Music, the Wellesley Symphony, the Rivers School Conservatory, and Snappy Dance among others.
His oratorio, The Voice of Isaac, a retelling of the Abraham and Isaac story from Isaac’s perspective, was premiered at Jordan Hall by PALS in March 2003 and hailed by the Boston Globe as “...clear in design and Brittenesque in texture...ingeniously scored...[having an] almost unbearable poignancy.” Frazin’s commissioned overture for the Boston Classical Orchestra in celebration of their 30th anniversary was described by the Boston Intelligencer as “...accessible and familiar, yet filled with emotional tension and dramatic complexity...pensive and original.” His new piano trio recently premiered by the Claremont Trio on the Dallas Chamber Music concert series was praised by the Dallas Morning News as “...[a] genuinely touching triptych, which wastes not a note.”
Recent projects include a new work for string orchestra for A Far Cry premiered at Jordan Hall, April 2010, a new work for the piano trio Triple Helix with soprano Sarah Pelletier, based on a Joan of Arc text via Mark Twain, premiered at Wellesley College in April 2010, a scena for tenor Frank Kelly and violinist Daniel Stepner, based on an Edward Lear text, premiered at Brandeis University in the fall of 2010, a new work for cellist Sebastian Baverstam, and a flute concerto for Robert Stallman. Frazin’s work is published by Peters Editions.
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