Doug Opel

Doug Opel explores amalgamations of contemporary, rock, jazz, pop and electronica to develop a compositional language that is at once, dark and humorous, controlled and chaotic, classical and contemporary. He has studied with composers David Foley and Ernesto Pellegrini (Ball State University), Kamran Ince, George B. Wilson and William Albright (University of Michigan), Don Freund, Eugene O'Brien, Jeff Hass and Claude Baker (Indiana University) as well as U.K. composers Oliver Knussen and Colin Matthews. His music has been performed on the American Modern Ensemble's Powerhouse Pianists II, Vox Novus' 60x60 and Composer's Voice Series, Keys to the Future's Spotlight on Four Hand Piano, Vision of Sound: A Concert of Live Music and Dance, Chicago's Pianoforte Salon Series, at New York City's MATA Festival, by the ensemble Intersection at the MacPhail Center for New Music in Minneapolis, at the Scotia Festival of Music, the Aldeburgh Festival at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Music Studies, by the Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Radio appearances include broadcasts by the CBC, WFMT/Chicago, WKCR's "Afternoon New Music" in New York City, WCNY's "Fresh Ink" in New York, WMBC's "art@radio" in Baltimore, WRTI's "Now is the Time" in Philadelphia, and on HEC-TV LIVE in St. Louis. In 2008, Opel's "3 preludes to missing the point" (underwritten by the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation) was released on the Innova label as part of a larger collection of piano works commissioned, performed and recorded by pianist Nicola Melville. In 2003, he became one of seven composers to receive the Aaron Copland Award, a residency that allows composers to work uninterrupted and in privacy at Copland House - the last home of Aaron Copland located in the Peekskills of New York. Recently, Opel was selected as the 2009 C3 (Composer Commission Competition) winner, awarded by The Definiens Project. The resulting piece for chamber ensemble will be premiered in 2010. He is also currently honoring a commission from pianist Robert Satterlee.