New Orleans born composer, Terry Vosbein has received numerous commissions to write new works from such organizations as the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art. He has composed works for orchestra, wind ensemble, various chamber ensembles and choir. He written works for jazz bands of all sizes. And his compositions have been performed all over the world.
His latest release, Progressive Jazz 2009, featuring the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, has rapidly been garnering critical praise. Jack Bowers at All That Jazz called the disc “advanced, forward-moving and enlightening but in no wise pretentious or self-absorbed. An admirable performance from end to end.”
Vosbein has been awarded five summer residencies at La Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. In the fall of 2001 he was awarded a fellowship at University College in Oxford, where he composed Masque for Cello and Orchestra. And his composition A Prayer for Peace, a reaction to the events of September 11th, continues to received performances worldwide. A more recent work, Village Scenes for Alto Saxophone and Piano, was premiered by James Bunte and David Riley at Carnegie Hall in early 2006.
When not spending his summers composing in exotic corners of the world, Vosbein teaches music composition at Washington and Lee University in beautiful Lexington, Virginia. He received his Masters in Composition from James Madison University under the tutelage of John Hilliard, and his Doctorate in Composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was a student of Donald Erb.
In addition to his activities as a composer, Vosbein was an active jazz bassist and arranger for over twenty-five years. He performed and arranged for a variety of ensembles, including the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Atlanta Pops. And he traveled “on the road” for many years, performing in a wide range of genres: country western twang, big band swing, disco fever, country club wallpaper, plus a never ending assortment of jazz combos and studio encounters.
photo by Marija Jankovic
photo by Marija Jankovic
photo by Patrick Hinely
photo by my mother