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RUSSELL PLATT
In two decades of composing, Russell Platt (b. 1965) has produced a distinctive body of chamber, vocal, and concerted works that are renowned for their lyrical invention, dramatic structure, and exquisite craftsmanship. These works have been advocated by some of the finest musicians before the public, including the violin-and-cello team of Colin and Eric Jacobsen, the New York Festival of Song, the St. Petersburg Quartet, the Verdehr Trio, the Dale Warland Singers, the violinists Frank Almond, Livia Sohn, and Leslie Shank, the pianists Margo Garrett, Brian Zeger, Natalie Zhu, and Lydia Artymiw, the soprano Nancy Allen Lundy, the baritone Thomas Meglioranza, the tenor Paul Sperry, the conductor Alexander Platt, the bassoonist Peter Kolkay, and the clarinettists Russell Dagon and Michel Lethiec. He has received commissions from Bargemusic (via the New York State Music Fund), the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Ensembles, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, the Mirror Visions Ensemble, the American Composers Forum, and the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota; his work has also been performed at the Aspen and Grand Teton music festivals.

An alumnus of Oberlin, the Curtis Institute, the University of Minnesota (Ph.D. 1995), and St. Catherine’s College, Cambridge, Platt’s principal teachers were Ned Rorem, Dominick Argento, Alexander Goehr, Judith Lang Zaimont, Edward J. Miller, and Richard Hoffmann. Among his honors are the Aaron Copland Award from Copland House, both the Charles Ives Scholarship and Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the McKnight Fellowship from the American Composers Forum, fellowships from the advanced composition seminars at Aspen, Aldeburgh, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and six residencies at the Yaddo colony.

Platt has been a music editor at The New Yorker since 2000, and is the curator of the Westport (Conn.) Arts Center’s chamber music series. He is also proud to be part of a distinguished creative family. His twin brother Alexander Platt is resident conductor of Chicago Opera Theater and music director of the Wisconsin Philharmonic and of Woodstock’s legendary Maverick Concerts; his brother Spencer Platt is a world-renowned photojournalist and war correspondent for Getty Images and the winner of the World Press Award for 2006.

More info at www.russellplatt.com