Released: February 10, 2010
Lincoln, Neb. - Kurt Knecht, who received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music composition in August 2009 from the University of Nebraska Lincoln, is the recipient of the 2009 Folsom Distinguished Dissertation Award presented by the Office of Graduate Studies for his musical composition, Missa Prolationem for soloists, chorus (soprano/alto/tenor/bass), organ, and string quartet. The piece premiered in April 2009 by the UNL Chamber Singers with Assistant Professor Therees Hibbard conducting, Knecht on the organ, and featuring the Chiara String Quartet.
Knecht is the first School of Music student to receive the award and to earn the $1,000 honorarium. The awards are made possible by a gift from the family of Lowe R. and Mavis M. Folsom to the University of Nebraska Foundation.
"I'm honored to receive the prize," Knecht said. "Given the current climate of our culture, there is a fantastic emphasis placed on work that can be assessed monetarily or practically. I would assume that all of the dissertations that made it to the final review process represented excellent research. It makes me very happy that I went to a University that still values someone doing creative work and trying to make a little room for beauty in the world."
School of Music Director John W. Richmond said the School is proud to have Knecht be their first Folsom Award winner. "We were delighted to learn that Kurt received the Folsom Award," Richmond said. "Knecht is a gifted composer, organist, collaborative pianist and conductor. It has been a joy and privilege to have him here for the last 3 years."
Knecht described Missa Prolationem as a "manifesto for me," in the program notes.
"Many people are writing beautiful choral music right now. I love it very much, but I have a growing concern about the overwhelming vertical nature of the vast majority of the writing," he wrote. "I wanted to write a large-scale work that would remind people of the beauty of counterpoint. It is an art that, I think, is fading too much in our current musical culture. I don't want choirs to forget the great rewards that come from preparing contrapuntal works."
Counterpoint in music involves the writing of musical lines that sound very different and move independently from each other, but sound harmonious when played simultaneously.
Hibbard said the experience of premiering Knecht's piece was memorable for everyone.
"Kurt is one of the most gifted, yet down-to-earth musicians I have had the pleasure to work with during my time here at UNL," she said. "His beautiful and challenging 'Missa Prolationem' was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring a piece of music to life for its very first hearing. And to have the composer with us in each rehearsal (he was our rehearsal pianist for three years) guiding our interpretation-it was amazing to be a part of it all."
Hibbard said each of them--UNL Chamber Singers, the Chiara String Quartet and Knecht--influenced each other.
"Together we reached levels of performance we could not have accomplished individually. It was a true synthesis of professionals influencing students, influencing the music, creating something wonderful for all playing, singing, and listening," Hibbard said. "Perhaps it was the intimate atmosphere of the performing space [St. Mark's on the Campus] or the nature of the music itself, but it is a work that has drawn out the best from each of us and all of us. I cannot give higher praise than that--and it is simply a remarkable piece of music. A complete honor and delight to premiere--we have since excerpted one of the movements for a recent concert, and the joy in the singers faces tells me that it will always be a special memory and experience for them here at UNL and for their time at the School of Music."
Knecht is a composer, organist and conductor, who lives in Lincoln. His compositions have been described as "funky" and "joyous" in the Washington Post, and the American Record Guide has called him a "fresh voice." His compositions have become a staple of the modern choral festival literature having been performed on All State and ACDA concerts in more than 15 states. Recent performances of his compositions include international performances at festivals and concerts in Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, and a performance at the Kennedy Center by the Grammy Award winning Washington Chorale. He is regularly commissioned and publishes with Walton Music. He has received the ASCAP Plus award (2008 and 2009) from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. As an eclectic performer, Kurt has been a featured soloist with groups ranging from Smokey Robinson to The Florida Orchestra.
He received the Bachelor of Music from the University of Tampa with concentrations in Piano Performance and Theory, and the Master of Music in Composition from Southern Methodist University.
Knecht remains in Lincoln, where he is the music director at St. Mark's on the Campus Episcopal Church in Lincoln. He conducts the choir and plays the organ. He has also developed a new contemplative service for students with Jonah Sirota from the Chiara String Quartet at St. Mark's.
"I am back to making my living as an honest, working musician," he said. His oldest son is a senior at Lincoln Southeast, who plans to attend UNL next fall as a music major. His youngest son is also at Southeast. What happens next year "depends on the job market," Knecht said.
"My wife made me apply for a job in the Bahamas during one of the blizzards," he said. "I haven't heard back yet."
Richmond expects he will contribute to our musical culture.
"I have every confidence that his brightest and most important contributions lay ahead and in the not-too-distant future," he said. "We all look forward to the creative contributions he will major to our musical culture."