The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has named American composer Margaret Brouwer a Guggenheim Fellow for 2004. Ms. Brouwer was among 185 distinguished artists and scholars from the United States and Canada chosen for this award out of a field of 3,268 applicants. Awards, which total $6,912,000 for 2004, are made by the Guggenheim Foundation on the basis of “unusually impressive achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment.”

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was established in 1925 by United States Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife as a memorial to a son who died April 26, 1922. The Foundation offers fellowships to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions and irrespective of race, color, or creed. The fellowships are awarded to men and women who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. The Foundation consults with distinguished scholars and artists regarding the accomplishments and promise of the applicant and presents this evidence to the Committee of Selection.

Composer Margaret Brouwer’s music has earned singular praise for its lyricism, musical imagery, and emotional power – qualities that are refreshingly free of the compositional conventions of our time. In the words of The New York Times, Ms. Brouwer’s music is “bewitching…with no obvious concessions toward styles of the day.” Many of the country’s most distinguished ensembles in New York, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Cleveland regularly program her works. In New York Ms. Brouwer’s music has been performed by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; at Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall, and Symphony Space; by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; and by the Cassatt and Cavani String Quartets. Her works have also been played by the Seattle Symphony; and In Washington, D.C. audiences at the Kennedy Center, the Corcoran Gallery, and the Philips Gallery have heard her music. In early 2004, members of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City performed Ms. Brouwer’s “Skyriding” as part of its “Second Helpings” series. Recently, New World Records announced the release on CD (New World 80606-2) of Ms. Brouwer’s “Light,” comprised of five of Ms. Brouwer’s chamber works scored for a variety of instrumental combinations.

Head of the composition department and holder of the Vincent K. and Edith H. Smith Chair in Composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ms. Brouwer was awarded the Cleveland Arts Prize in composition in September 1999. A CD of her “Crosswinds” (CD-821) was released in June 1999 by CRI. Brouwer’s music is published exclusively by Carl Fischer and is recorded on the CRI, Crystal, Centaur, and Opus One labels. Honors include grants from the NEA, Ford Foundation, Knight Foundation, Meet the Composer, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the Indiana Arts Commission.

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