Bio: Kenneth LaFave
Influenced by musical theater, jazz, and 20th-century classical composers, the music of Kenneth LaFave is rich in harmonic flavor, rhythmic vitality, and melodic charm.
Kenneth LaFave has composed music for orchestra, band, choir, chamber ensembles and the stage. His latest works include the full-length, one-act opera, American Gothic, commissioned by a consortium of private donors and premiered by Arizona State University’s Lyric Opera Theatre in 2005; and Diet! The Musical, produced in 2007 by North Valley Playhouse. LaFave writes regularly for the Lincoln Center (NY) and Philadelphia Orchestra editions of Playbill magazine, and contributes to several websites, including NewMusicBox.com and his own blog: composerlafave.typepad.com. He won national and local awards for his work as an arts journalist at The Phoenix Gazette and The Arizona Republic (1990-2005). LaFave studied composition with Robert Muczynski and Robert McBride at the University of Arizona, as well as with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ned Rorem at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Florida, and with TV composer Mark Snow at New York University.
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Influenced by musical theater, jazz, and 20th-century classical composers, the music of Kenneth LaFave is rich in harmonic flavor, rhythmic vitality, and melodic charm.
Kenneth LaFave has composed music for orchestra, band, choir, chamber ensembles and the stage. His latest works include the full-length, one-act opera, American Gothic, commissioned by a consortium of private donors and premiered by Arizona State University’s Lyric Opera Theatre in 2005; and Diet! The Musical, produced in 2007 by North Valley Playhouse. LaFave writes regularly for the Lincoln Center (NY) and Philadelphia Orchestra editions of Playbill magazine, and contributes to several websites, including NewMusicBox.com and his own blog: composerlafave.typepad.com. He won national and local awards for his work as an arts journalist at The Phoenix Gazette and The Arizona Republic (1990-2005). LaFave studied composition with Robert Muczynski and Robert McBride at the University of Arizona, as well as with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ned Rorem at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Florida, and with TV composer Mark Snow at New York University.
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