Congratulations to the Bonnie McLarty, the winner of the 2019 Cincinnati Camerata Composition Prize! Her winning submission, Autumn Dusk, was hailed by the jury as “beautifully written, singable, and rewarding.” You can hear an excerpt rendered in MIDI form here, and the work will be performed by Cincinnati Camerata on their Spring concert in late April / early May 2020.

Bonnie McLarty Bio:
Bonnie McLarty (b. 1983) is passionate about creating community through music. As a composer, she is keenly interested in the human elements of music—the voice, the layers of meaning and narrative, and the conversations and connections that occur during the music-making process. Her work as a collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and music educator shapes her compositions, which explore the convergence of classical and vernacular genres, often featuring lyrical expression and text or another extra-musical narrative. Recent pieces include Weather-telling, a set of eight art songs with texts by contemporary Kansas poets, and Snow Angel, a piece about assault and recovery for two sopranos and chamber ensemble. Her music can be found on SoundCloud and her website (bonniemclarty.com). Bonnie McLarty earned her D.M.A. in composition at the University of Kansas, where she studied with Forrest Pierce and Ingrid Stölzel. She received her M.M. in piano performance at the University of Wyoming, where she studied piano with Theresa Bogard composition with Anne Guzzo.