From asiasociety.org
Susie Ibarra's "Sky Islands," performed by Alex Peh, wins Pulitzer Prize
Susie Ibarra, the 2018 Davenport Resident for New American Music at SUNY New Paltz, was awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her newest composition, "Sky Islands," composed for her improvising trio, Talking Gong, with Associate Professor Alex Peh and Harvard professor of music Claire Chase. Department of Music alum Aleks Pilmanis ’23 assisted Ibarra in preparing the final engraving of the prize-winning musical score.
"Sky Islands"—a work about ecosystems and biodiversity that challenges the notion of the compositional voice by interweaving the profound musicianship and improvisational skills of a soloist as a creative tool—was created on our campus, and received a first workshop performance in December 2023 in Shepard Recital Hall. It premiered in July 2024 at the Asia Society in NYC.
Ibarra first came to New Paltz in 2018 as a Davenport Artist-in-Residence and collaborated with Peh and Chase to perform the world premiere of "Talking Gong," a new work for flute, piano and percussion commissioned by the University. Following the success of this performance, they became an improvising trio, naming their ensemble after the title of their first piece.
Plans are underway for a special celebration performance of "Sky Islands" as part of the 2025-26 Music Concert Series. Read more about Ibarra's Pulitzer win at pulitzer.org.
Phyllis Chen
Assistant Professor Phyllis Chen's most recent music release, "Meditations," is now available on Bandcamp—and, as of May 13, on all music streaming platforms (iTunes, YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify).
"After two decades working intimately with miniature objects and their resonances, I felt a desire to go back to the piano—plain and simple—particularly after André Watts, my late piano teacher, passed away in July 2023," says Chen. "The whole album is dedicated to him."
Additionally, Chen was a recent recipient of the Faculty Development Center's Teaching Innovation Awards. According to the FDC, "up to $200 each for teaching materials/training/support, along with recognition and a certificate, will be given to faculty members for new (to them) teaching innovations tried out during the 2024-25 academic year." Chen presented her ideas, along with other awardees, at the FDC on April 4.
The Professors
The Professors—a jazz quartet featuring Assistant Professor and Director of Jazz Studies Mark Dziuba on guitar, former Department of Music chair Vincent Martucci on piano, and adjunct lecturers Rich Syracuse on bass and Jeff "Siege" Siegel on drums—celebrated the release of their newest album "Intersections" with a live performance at the Falcon in Marlboro, NY on March 23.
According to the group, the Professors' "life’s work is defined by the creation and performing of great music and sharing their lifetimes of performing and teaching experiences with the upcoming legions of aspiring jazz musicians." They united for the first time in 1994 on Dziuba’s CD “Up Until Now,” and officially formalized as a quartet once Syracuse joined in 2015. The four friends have continued their joy of performing together ever since, including at local clubs and concerts in the Hudson Valley, as well as abroad in Beijing, China and Bogota, Colombia.
See and hear the Professors in action on YouTube.
John Wilson
Assistant Professor and Director of Choral Activities John Wilson led a performance of the Duruflé Requiem on May 2 at St. Xavier Church in NYC. This was his inaugural season as music director with the storied Riverside Choral Society.
Learn more about the event at Riverside Choral Society's website.
Peh performs at planetarium
Associate Professor of Music and Director of Piano Studies Alex Peh, along with special guest Claire Chase and students in Peh's Multi-keyboard Ensemble class presented a live performance titled "Cosmic Liftoff" in the John R. Kirk Planetarium on Feb. 26.
The project celebrated the last work written by the genre-defining American experimental composer, Terry Riley. “Holy Liftoff” was written in 2023 for flute, multiple keyboards, and synthesizers. "Cosmic Liftoff" featured astronomical and musical elements that embody themes in Riley’s work, such as birth and death, beginnings and endings, and the journey into the unknown.
