Mark Edwards Wilson papers
Collection
0426-SCPA-WILSON
Currently on the Music Theory and Composition faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park, Mark Edwards Wilson hails from Long Beach, California. He received a Ph.D. in composition at UCLA where he studied with Henri Lazarof, Roy Travis, Roy Harris and Leon Kirchner. Wilson's compositions range from orchestral and chamber music works to electroacoustic and multi-media works and have been performed extensively worldwide.
Among Wilson’s accolades are the Harold Springer Award for Music Composition, seven Creative and Performing Arts Awards from the University of Maryland, two Maryland State Arts Council Fellowships and the BMI Award (Broadcast Music, Inc.). Additionally, his composition The Phoenix was selected as the Grand Prize Winner of the Realize Music Challenge and was subsequently recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra.
The papers consist of scores and part sets for selected works by Wilson composed between the years of 1999 and 2019.
The collection is open for research use. Materials from this collection must be used in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room during SCPA’s operating hours. Please contact the curator for an appointment or if you have questions related to digital access of the materials.
Copyright was not transferred to the University of Maryland with the gift of any copyrighted materials. All rights remain with the creators and rights holders. The University of Maryland Libraries is granted permission for the use in scholarly research by the Libraries’ patrons under fair use in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
To inquire about duplication of materials for research or for publication, please contact SCPA’s curator.
3.0 Linear Feet
English
The Mark Edwards Wilson papers contain materials spanning the years of 1999-2019; the bulk of the material dates from 2008-2019. The papers include scores for works in various idioms of classical music with a focus on the orchestra.
Born in Long Beach, California, Mark Edwards Wilson received a Ph.D. in composition at UCLA where he studied with Henri Lazarof, Roy Travis, Roy Harris and Leon Kirchner. Wilson's compositions range from orchestral and chamber music works to electroacoustic and multi-media works and have been performed extensively worldwide.
Wilson's orchestral work, The Phoenix, was chosen as the Grand Prize Winner of the Realize Music Challenge, an international competition for new orchestra music sponsored by Notion Music, Inc. and the London Symphony Orchestra. In a press release, acclaimed American composer John Corigliano, who headed the judging panel, has written the following of the winning composition: "Excellent piece. It really develops its materials and has a fine, large shape. I felt a true symphonic mind at work. Beautiful orchestration, too. Bravo!" As part of the prize, The Phoenix was recorded at Abbey Road Studios by the London Symphony Orchestra, Jack Jarrett conducting. Last season, The Phoenix received two performances by the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Peter Bay conducting, as part of the ASO's Centennial Celebration.
Of Wilson’s solo works and chamber music compositions, Metamorphosis (a string quartet premiered by the Left Bank Quartet at the Kennedy Center), Soliloquy (a work for violin written for David Salness) and Rituals (a work for piano commissioned by the William Kapell Competition) have been extensively performed in America, Europe and Asia. His composition Aeolus (an electroacoustic work for flute) has received more than 100 performances worldwide by various artists. Another electroacoustic work, Sappho, was premiered and recorded for release on the Capstone label by internationally acclaimed soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson. Wilson's most recent recordings are of Windows (an electroacoustic composition), released on the Neuma label in 2006 and a 2008 release on Capstone Records entirely dedicated to his compositions, ranging from solo and chamber music works to a composition for chamber orchestra, Ancient Ways, featuring the Hollywood Chamber Players conducted by the composer.
Earlier in his career, in conjunction with his work at UCLA, Wilson was active in the world of music for film and television and received the Henry Mancini Prize and the Mancini Production Award for film scoring.
Wilson's most recent work has centered on compositions for orchestra. Of these, Delphi (2005) has been recorded by the Kiev Philharmonic. His latest works for orchestra, Oracles (2006) and The Phoenix (2008) were written for and premiered by the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, James Ross, conductor. His work in the orchestral medium has received numerous awards and distinctions including three commissions from the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra (Four Sketches of Notre Dame de Paris, Gethsemane, and Morpheus) and a commission by the Chamber Symphony of St. Louis for Ancient Ways. His orchestral work Morpheus received First Prize in the Haubiel New Orchestral Music Competition.
Wilson has received numerous honors and prizes in the field of composition, including the Harold Springer Award for Music Composition, seven Creative and Performing Arts Awards from the University of Maryland, two Maryland State Arts Council Fellowships and the BMI Award (Broadcast Music, Inc.).
Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Music Theory and Composition division at the University of Maryland, College Park.
All materials are organized under one series.
Gifted by Dr. Mark Edwards Wilson on February 3, 2022.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library