Mark Kilstofte

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Composer Mark Kilstofte, a professor of music at Furman University, was among seven finalists for a new prize awarded by the European American Musical Alliance (EAMA).

Kilstofte was a finalist for the first annual EAMA Prize in recognition of his work, “Of Rivers Within,” a composition for soprano, chorus and orchestra.  The grand prize went to American composer Gregg Wramage for “La Tristesse Durera,” a piece for large orchestra.

The EAMA Prize is awarded to a “musical composition of profound artistic message, possessing a unique musical voice, and demonstrating clear, direct power of communication.”  The 2008 EAMA Prize received 190 anonymous submissions of musical compositions from all over the world.

Kilstofte, who teaches composition and theory at Furman, joined the faculty in 1992.  His award-winning compositions have been premiered by such organizations as the San Francisco Choral Artists, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Sweden, and the World Saxophone Congress in Spain. 

Kilstofte’s music, praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as “exciting and beautiful, consistently gripping,” has garnered a number of awards and honors, including the Rome Prize, ASCAP’s Rudolf Nissim Award, the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship and Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Aaron Copland Award (twice), and Gardner Read and Francis & William Schuman fellowships from the MacDowell Colony.  He has also received commissions from the Dale Warland Singers and the Fromm Foundation.

A graduate of St. Olaf College, he holds M.M. and D.M.A. degrees from the University of Michigan.

For more information, contact Furman’s News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.

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9-11-08