Frank Ferko
New Music
Cartes Postales de la Guerre (Postcards from the War)
Organ and mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Sheen
Thursday, July 5 1:30 pm
The music of Frank Ferko has been heard in live performances, radio broadcasts, and across the internet throughout the world. His works have been performed by some of the most highly regarded organists, choral ensembles, and vocal soloists of our time.
Performances of Mr. Ferko’s music have been presented in such venues as the Festival Oude Muziek (Netherlands), Jusq’aux oreilles (Montreal) and national conventions of the ACDA, Chorus America and the American Guild of Organists. His choral works have been performed by such distinguished ensembles as the Nederlands Kamerkoor, Commotio, Trinity College Choir, ORA Singers (U.K.), Jubilate Singers (New Zealand), Chor Leoni (Vancouver), Akateeminen Laulu (Finland), Cantori New York, Dale Warland Singers, Bella Voce, Harvard Glee Club, Opus 7, Choral Arts (Seattle), Esoterics, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. His vocal solo music has been performed by renowned opera singers Nathan Gunn, Keith Phares, Nancy Gustafson, Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet, Sylvia McNair, Robert Orth and Juliana Rambaldi. The organists who have performed Mr. Ferko's organ works comprise a veritable "who's who" in the organ world of the past 35 years. His works are published exclusively by E. C. Schirmer Music Company (ECS Publishing), and they have been recorded on more than 30 compact disc releases.
Mr. Ferko has performed in organ recitals across the U.S. and in Western Europe, and his own performance of the Hildegard Organ Cycle (Hildegard-Zyklus) was recorded on the Arsis label. Mr. Ferko has also been the recipient of awards and/or grants from the American Composers Forum, American Music Center, ASCAP, American Guild of Organists, Jerome Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund, Meet the Composer, Arts International and the Illinois Arts Council. From 2001 to 2003 Mr. Ferko held the position of Composer-in-Residence with the internationally acclaimed Dale Warland Singers. In 1988 he began an intensive study of the life and works of Hildegard von Bingen which has resulted in his ongoing creation of a variety of works based on Hildegard’s writings.
