AMERICAN SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS, AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS AWARDS TWO UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS MUSIC PROFESSORS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — University of Arkansas music professors James R. Greeson and Robert Mueller have been chosen as American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers award recipients.

The awards are granted by an independent panel and are based upon the unique prestige value of each writer’s catalog of original compositions, as well as recent performances in areas not surveyed by the society.

The panelists include David Bowden, musical director and conductor of three Indiana orchestras: The Columbus Philharmonic, the Terre Haute Symphony and the Carmel Symphony; Peter Filichia, the drama critic for the (Newark) Star Ledger; Carolyn Jennings, professor of music at St. Olaf College; Peter Keepnews, a freelance journalist specializing in jazz and popular culture; Michael Morgan, music director of the Oakland-East Bay Symphony Orchestra; Melinda Newman, West Coast bureau chief of Billboard; Pat Prescott, veteran radio personality who currently hosts a morning show on KTWV ("The Wave") in Los Angeles; H. Robert Reynolds, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan; and Greg Sandow, music educator, composer and classical music critic for The Wall Street Journal.

ASCAP is a membership association of over 140,000 composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers. It is a clearinghouse for creators and users of music. Its customers, or licensees, encompass all those who want to perform copyrighted music publicly, such as radio and television broadcasters, cable programmers, live concert promoters, symphony orchestras, shopping malls, bars and web sites.

It is home to the greatest names in American music, past and present -- from Duke Ellington to Beck, from George Gershwin to Stevie Wonder, from Leonard Bernstein to Madonna, from Garth Brooks to Tito Puente, from Henry Mancini to James Horner -- as well as thousands of writers in the earlier stages of their careers.

Greeson is a professor of composition and music theory in the department of music at the U of A. He received his doctorate in composition from the University of Wisconsin, and his master’s degree in music and his doctorate in musical arts from the University of Utah. His compositions have been published by Cor Publishing, Willis Music Co., the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Press and SeeSaw Publishers.

His Fantasy for Five Players (1984), commissioned by the Da Capo Chamber Players, has been heard by that group in performances at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space in New York City and around the country. His Trees of Arkansas (1987), for soprano and orchestra, has been performed in Arkansas, Kansas and Bolivia. Contra, a composition for solo double bass, has been recorded on Crystal Records by bassist Daniel Gwyn. He has also composed music in his home MIDI recording studio for four documentaries aired on public television. Also active as a jazz composer, Greeson's music for jazz ensemble is published by University of Northern Colorado Music Press and has been performed at the Telluride Jazz Festival.

Greeson is also active as a guitarist in both the classical and jazz idioms. He has performed widely throughout the region as a soloist and part of a Novaria, a classical guitar and flute duo. Novaria's first compact disc recording was released in 1996 on the Nuance label. He is also the jazz guitar consultant for Kendor Music, Inc., in New York.

At the University of Arkansas, Greeson teaches music theory and composition, guitar, string bass, and he plays principal string bass in the North Arkansas Symphony and directs the UA jazz ensemble.

Mueller has been on the faculty at the U of A since 1988, and he teaches composition and music theory. His music has been performed nationwide by several orchestra including the Cincinnati, Omaha, Lansing, Arkansas and North Arkansas Symphonies. A number of music festivals have programmed his music, including the Bowling Green New Music and Art Festival, the Music Festival of Arkansas, the Southwest Contemporary Music Festival, and conferences of the Society of Composers, International Double Reed Society and College Music Society. He has been the recipient of 12 consecutive ASCAP awards, an American Music Center grant, an individual artist grant from the Arkansas Arts Council, and prizes from the Omaha, Lansing, Jackson and Cincinnati Symphonies.

ASCAP represents every kind of music, with repertory that includes pop, rock, alternative, country, R&B, rap, hip hop, Latin, film and television music, folk, roots and blues, jazz, gospel, contemporary Christian, new age, theater and cabaret, dance, electronic, symphonic and concert -- the entire musical spectrum.