John Winsor, Composer: Biography



JOHN STUDIED CLARINET with Robert Harrison, David Harris, and Robert Marcellus of the Cleveland Orchestra and composition with John Rinehart and James Waters. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Heidelberg College and a Master of Arts degree in music theory from Kent State University. During the 1979-1980 school year, he was a doctoral assistant in composition at Kent State. He has taught music theory and designed bandsman training materials at the Armed Forces School of Music. He has also taught clarinet, music theory, and composition at the Virginia Governor's School for the Arts. He has served as an adjudicator for VMTA composition contests (both the professional and student contests). He is a computer programmer for Unisys Corporation and an adjunct clarinet instructor at Tidewater Community College. He is also sole proprietor of  BENCHMARK WEB SITES

John is a founding member of the Hardwick Chamber Ensemble, which was formed in 1988. The HCE performs about a dozen concerts annually for Virginia's colleges, universities, and other presenting organizations. They also perform once or twice annually in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and elsewhere in the United States. The HCE has received grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and from the arts commissions of Chesapeake, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach.

John's composition prizes include the 1992 Delius vocal award for Four Songs, the 1995 Delius keyboard award for Three Preludes, the 1992 VMTA Commissioned Composer Competition prize for Hardwick Quartet, the 1994 VMTA Commissioned Composer Competition prize for Midas Retold, the Modern Music Festival 2000 Film Scoring Competition prize for Totem, and the 2004 VMTA Commissioned Composer Competition for Chamber Symphony. John has received grants from the American Music Center and from Meet the Composer and several ASCAP awards. His works are frequently performed on composer conferences and festivals throughout the United States and, occasionally, in Europe.

Articles by and about John have been published in ComposerUSA. He is the author of Breaking the Sound Barrier: An Argument for Mainstream Literary Music (iUniverse Writer's Showcase), which won ForeWord Magazine's 2003 Bronze Award in the music book category and is listed as an iUniverse Editor's Choice. His Three Essays for orchestra was released on Volume 2 of ERM Media's Masterworks for the New Era series (Philharmonia Bulgarica; Robert Ian Winstin, cond.), which won the 2006 JPF Classical Orchestral Album Award. John's Caprice for clarinet solo was released on Greetings From NACUSA! (John Winsor, clarinet), NACUSA's first official CD.

John is Membership Coordinator for the National Association of Composers/USA (NACUSA) and Vice President of both NACUSA/Virginia and the Hardwick Chamber Ensemble. He is also a past Chairman of NACUSA's Board of Directors. He is webmaster for the National Association of Composers/USA (NACUSA), NACUSA/Virginia, NACUSA/Los Angeles, the Virginia Music Teachers Association (VMTA), the Composer-Conductor Bridge, and the Hardwick Chamber Ensemble. He is also a member of the Society of Composers, Inc. and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

Recordings:

  • Three Essays
    Masterworks of the New Era, Volume 2
    Philharmonia Bulgarica
    Robert Ian Winstin, cond.
    ERM Media: ERM-6696

  • Serenade for Strings
    Masterworks of the New Era, Volume 12
    Kiev Philharmonic
    Robert Ian Winstin, cond.
    ERM Media

  • Caprice
    Greetings from NACUSA
    John Winsor, clarinet.
    NACUSA: NAC 001

Broadcasts:

  • WPRB FM 103.3, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, April, 2005:
    Three Essays.

  • WDR 3 (West German Radio), Cologne, Germany, November, 1999:
    Chamber Symphony.
    Decade Divertimento.

  • WFOS-FM 88.7, Chesapeake, VA, May, 1998:
    Sonata for Clarinet and Piano.

  • WFOS-FM 88.7, Chesapeake, VA, February, 1995:
    Sonata for Clarinet and Piano.

  • WCTV Channel 23, Chesapeake, VA, December, 1994:
    Trio for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano.

  • WHRO-FM 90.3, Norfolk, VA December, 1994:
    Sonata for Clarinet and Piano,
    Harmony of the Spheres,
    Three Preludes.

  • WHRV-FM 89.5, Norfolk, VA, March 1994:
    Trio for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano.

Representative Performances:

Rondo (2004):

  • VMTA Conference. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, October, 2004.

Caprice (2003):

  • HCE Concert. Francis Land House, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2003.
  • HCE Concert. Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2003.
  • HCE Concert. Tidewater Community College, Portsmouth, VA, April, 2003.
  • NACUSA Concert. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, April, 2004.
  • HCE Concert. Tidewater Community College, Portsmouth, VA, September, 2004.
  • HCE Concert. Tidewater Community College, Portsmouth, VA, July, 2005.
  • Salon 33 Concert. Princeton, NJ, July, 2005.
  • EVB/HCE Concert. Green Acres Presbyterian, Portsmouth, VA, March, 2006.
  • HCE Concert. Francis Land House, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2008.
  • Chowan University, Daniel Hall, Murfreesboro, NC. 2008 New Music Day, April, 2008.

Totem (2000):

  • Modern Music Festival 2000 Multimedia Concert. Boulder Public Library, Boulder, CO, April 2000.

Jabberwocky (1998):

  • Virginia Beach Chorale Concert. Pavilion Theater, Virginia Beach, VA, May 1999.

Four for Three (1998):

  • SCI Region III Conference. Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, October, 1998.
  • NACUSA Concert. Virginia Contemporary Arts Center, Virginia Beach, VA, November, 2001.
  • NACUSA Concert. Richmond Public Library, Richmond, VA, February, 2003.

Decade Divertimento (1997):

  • HCE Concert. Chesapeake Central Library, Chesapeake, VA, January, 1998.
  • Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series. Cologne, Germany, September, 1999.

The Norwegian Lady (1996):

  • Pavilion Theater. Virginia Beach, VA, March, 1997.
  • HCE Concert. Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, April, 1997.
  • NACUSA Concert, Philadelphia, PA, October, 1997.
  • HCE Concert. Chesapeake Central Library, Chesapeake, VA, January, 1998.
  • SCI Region III Conference. Hampton University, Hampton, VA, February, 2000.
  • NACUSA Concert. Chowan College, Murfreesboro, NC, February, 2006.
  • HCE Concert. Francis Land House, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2006.

Chamber Symphony (1995):

  • Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series. Cologne, Germany, September, 1999.
  • Harid Conservatory at Lynn University "Music of Our Time" Festival. Boca Raton, FL, April, 2000.

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1994):

  • VMTA Conference. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, October, 1994.
  • NACUSA Concert. University of California, Riverside, CA, March, 1995.
  • NACUSA Concert. Philadelphia, PA, May, 1995.
  • Arts in Ghent Festival. Norfolk, VA, November, 1995.
  • Southeastern Composers League Forum. University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC, March, 1998.
  • NACUSA Concert. University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, February, 1998.
  • VFMC Conference. Williamsburg, VA, April, 1998.
  • NACUSA Concert. Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, January, 1999.
  • HCE Concerts. Tidewater Community College, series at Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and
  • Portsmouth campuses, VA, February, 1999.
  • VMTA Conference, Shenandoah University, Winchester, VA, October, 1999.
  • HCE Concert. Historic Francis Land House, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2000.
  • NACUSA/Salon 33 Concert. Princeton, NJ, May, 2000.
  • SCI Region III Conference. Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, January, 2001.
  • Miles United Methodist Church. Norfolk, VA, March, 2001.
  • HCE Concert. Virginia Contemporary Arts Center, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2001.
  • "Tempo Breve" New Music Festival, Varna, Bulgaria, August, 2001.
  • "Tempo Breve" New Music Festival, Prague, Czech Republic, August, 2001.
  • "Tempo Breve" New Music Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria, August, 2001.
  • Toronto, Canada, November, 2001.
  • NACUSA Concert. Virginia Contemporary Arts Center, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2002.
  • HCE Concert. Tidewater Community College, Portsmouth, VA, September, 2004.
  • NACUSA Concert. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, September, 2005.
  • HCE Concert. Francis Land House, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2008.
  • Chowan University, Daniel Hall, Murfreesboro, NC. 2008 New Music Day, April, 2008.

Three Preludes (1993):

  • Virginia Governor's School for the Arts, Norfolk, VA, March 1994.
  • VFMC Conference. Norfolk, VA, February, 1995.
  • Delius Festival. Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, FL, March, 1995.
  • Salon 33 Concert, Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ, October, 1995.
  • NACUSA Concert. Philadelphia, PA, October, 1998.
  • NACUSA/Salon 33 Concert. Princeton, NJ, May, 2000.
  • NACUSA Concert. University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, March, 2001.
  • "Tempo Breve" New Music Festival, Varna, Bulgaria, August, 2001.
  • "Tempo Breve" New Music Festival, Prague, Czech Republic, August, 2001.
  • "Tempo Breve" New Music Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria, August, 2001.
  • Salon 33 Concert. Princeton, NJ, August 17, 2002.
  • HCE Concert. Tidewater Community College, Portsmouth, VA, November, 2002.
  • HCE Concert. Francis Land House, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2003.
  • HCE Concert. Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 2003.
  • HCE Concert. Tidewater Community College, Portsmouth, VA, April, 2003.

Harmony of the Spheres (1993):

  • Music in Motion Dance Concert. Pavilion Theater, Virginia Beach, VA, March, 1994.
  • Music in Motion Dance Concert. Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, April, 1994.

Midas Retold (1992):

  • VMTA Conference. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, November, 1992.

Final Portraits (1992):

  • Music in Motion Dance Concert. Pavilion Theater, Virginia Beach, VA, March, 1993.

Trio for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano (1991):

  • NACUSA Concert. New York, NY, March, 1992.
  • VFMC Conference. Portsmouth, VA, April, 1992.
  • NACUSA Concert. University of California, Riverside, CA, March, 1995.
  • HCE Concert. Chesapeake Central Library, Chesapeake, VA, April, 1998.
  • HCE Concert. Historic Francis Land House, Virginia Beach, VA, April, 1998.

Rhapsody for Clarinet and Piano (1987):

  • NACUSA Concert. Philadelphia, PA, April, 1992.

Four Songs (1984):

  • Delius Festival. Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, FL, March, 1992.
  • NACUSA Concert. New York, NY, April, 1994.

 

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