Community Music School of Webster University Welcomes Daniel Pesca as 2024-25 Guest Composer

Photo credit: Catilin Oldham

The Community Music School (CMS) of Webster University will welcome Daniel Pesca as a guest composer for their 2024-25 Young Composers Competition.

Since 2004, the Young Composers Competition (YCC), sponsored by Arden and Harry Fisher at the Community Music School of Webster University, has recognized and encouraged the efforts of those between the ages of 12 and 21 who are involved in the creative process of composing music. This program, unique to the St. Louis region, is an open competition which has received submissions from St. Louis and throughout the world. Each year the guest composer plays an integral role within the YCC, providing developing composers with invaluable one-on-one guidance in a constructive and supportive environment from an individual already well established in their professional and creative field. 

The choice of guest composer is based upon recommendations from the YCC committee, past participants in the competition, and a general keeping of ears to the ground for exciting new voices in the new music world. 

"Through the YCC, we strive to engage guest composers who are active in both the creation of exciting new work and the education and guidance of young minds,” says Justin Blackburn, coordinator of the Young Composers Competition.

Entries for the 2024-25 Young Composers Competition will be accepted beginning Sept. 1. Interested composers should visit www.webster.edu/cms-ycc for more information. The deadline for submissions is October 20, 2024, and winners are announced in early January.

About Guest Composer Daniel Pesca

Daniel Pesca is a composer and pianist whose music is characterized by its color and imagination, and whose interpretations stand out for their creativity and dynamism. The common theme in Pesca’s myriad activities is his passion for collaboration. His partnerships with a variety of ensembles, individual musicians, and fellow composers have cultivated a prolific body of work. 

Among Pesca’s most recent compositions are Walk with me, my joy for Constellations Chamber Concerts in Washington, DC and New Examples of Confusion for the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition at University of Chicago. Other recent works have been commissioned with support from national granting organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts and New Music USA, for ensembles such as the American Wild Ensemble and the Oberlin Contemporary Ensemble, and for artists such as guitarist Dieter Hennings, tenor Zach Finkelstein and flutist Sarah Frisof. His music has been heard at festivals and venues across the United States and in Europe. 

As a pianist, Pesca has premiered over 150 works, is a founding member of the Grossman Ensemble and co-director of the Zohn Collective, appears on a dozen commercial recordings (including a solo album, Promontory), and has performed as soloist with orchestras in works by Messiaen, Bernstein, Berg, Carter, and others. 

Pesca is currently an assistant professor of composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He was on faculty at University of Maryland, Baltimore County from 2019 to 2023, and prior to that taught at University of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University, Ithaca College, and Syracuse University. He holds degrees in composition and piano from Eastman and the University of Michigan.

About Community Music School of Webster University (CMS)

Founded in 1925, CMS offers outstanding music education and performance opportunities to students of all ages and abilities in the St. Louis metropolitan region.

The Community Music School of Webster University is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and is a certified member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts.