Composer in Residence

Following the successful collaborations with Stella Sung for Constellations and last year’s Rockwell Reflections, the Orlando Philharmonic is proud to have Stella as our first ever Composer-In-Residence.

Stella Sung, composer, pianist, and Professor of Music at the University of Central Florida’s Department of Digital Media, and Director of UCF’s Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology, and Entertainment (CREATE), was born in Gainesville, FL in 1959 and demonstrated her musical gifts soon after beginning piano lessons at age eight. She gave her first public recital at thirteen, studied piano extensively throughout high school and attended both the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan and the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina before entering the University of Michigan as a piano major; she went on to earn the master’s degree in composition from the University of Florida and a doctorate in piano performance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Sung has received recognition and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, ASCAP, the MacDowell Colony and other leading music organizations. She has also won two Florida Individual Artist’s Fellowships (sponsored by the Division of Cultural Affairs for the State of Florida), a 2005 Florida Artist’s Enhancement Award, and the 2007-10 Phi Kappa Phi National Artist’s Award. Dr. Sung is a Distinguished Alumna of the University of Florida and has received other awards from UF. Additionally, film-maker Aaron Hose, has made a documentary about her Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra for which he received two Telly awards.

For the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s 10th Anniversary season (2003), she was commissioned to compose Constellations, which featured a multi-media presentation. Her second commission for the Orlando Philharmonic, shared with the Akron Symphony, was Rockwell Reflections, which received rave reviews and will be featured on the Wichita Symphony Orchestra’s 2010-2011 season. Commissions for 2008-2009 include a guitar concerto for the San Francisco Conservatory New Music Ensemble, and a ballet for Dance Alive! National Ballet (State Touring company for the State of Florida) based on the topic of Ellis Island. Additionally, Sung is an active composer for film and digital media, and continues to develop projects using surround sound technology which she calls “Immersive Ambience.”

www.stellasung.com