Paul Basler
FOLK SONGS for Horn and Piano
Program Notes
Folk Songs for horn and piano was written for and dedicated to various students in Basler's horn studio as well as Michelle Stebleton. The playing level ranges from simple to moderately advanced - these pieces fill a void in the horn literature for quality arrangements of some of the world's finest melodies. The ordering and choice of pieces is left up to the performers.
Paul Basler (b. 1963, Milwaukee), 1993-94 Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Music at Kenyatta University (Nairobi, Kenya), 1995-96 University of Florida Teacher of the Year and the 2001-03 College of Fine Arts University of Florida Research Foundation Professor is currently Professor of Music at the University of Florida. He taught at Western Carolina University for four years and, prior to coming to WCU, was the North Carolina Visiting Artist-in-Residence at Caldwell Community College. He received his B.M. degree magna cum laude from the Florida State University, M.M., M.A. and D.M.A. degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and has received teaching awards and citations from the University of Florida College of Fine Arts, SUNY-Stony Brook, Western Carolina University, Kenyatta University and the Kenya Office of the President/Permanent Music Commission.
One of the most performed composers of his generation, his music has been received with enthusiastic acclaim throughout the world, the New York Times describing his music as "virtuosic and highly athletic." The recipient of the North Carolina Arts Council Composer's Fellowship and several National Endowment for the Arts Composer grants, Basler's compositions have been performed throughout the world; recent compositions have received pertormances at Carnegie Hall, the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, Tanglewood, the Spoleto Festival, the Winchester International Music Festival, Symphony Hall in Chicago, Kennedy Center, the National Theatres of the Dominican Republic and Kenya, Lincoln Center, the Sydney Opera House, the Aspen Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, in the Czech Republic by the Moravian Philharmonic and in China by the Shanghai Philharmonic. His first large-scale choral work, Missa Kenya, has received thousands of performances over the past several years. One of the youngest persons to have ever been awarded a Senior Fulbright Lectureship, he served as the Composer in Residence and Conductor at the Sewanee Summer Music Center and Composer in Residence at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. His music is published by Carl Fischer, Colla Voce Music, Walton Music, Hinshaw Music, Southern Music, RM Williams Publishing, and the IS Press.
Basler is resident hornist for the annual Composers Conference in Boston and has performed as guest artist at numerous International Horn Society Workshops and the St. Petersburg International Chamber Music Festival in Russia. Basler has been a member of the Charleston, Greenville, Asheville, Tallahassee and Gainesville Symphonies, and continues to maintain a busy periorming schedule throughout the United States and abroad, having premiered over 200 works written for him over the years.
He also has received 2 American Cultural Affairs Specialist Grants from the U.S. Department of State and is currently a Visiting Artist in Residence with the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Culture and the National Conservatory of Music.
Basler's horn teachers have included William Purvis, William Capps and Barry Benjamin and his composition teachers have been John Boda, John Downey, Bulent Arel, John Lessard and Billy Jim Layton.
