Morten Lauridsen

Morten Lauridsen studied at USC Thornton School of Music and Whitman College. The recorded working language is French and English. The field of work recorded is music, conducting and music education. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Employment is recorded with University of Southern California. Works named in the authority record are Mid-Winter Songs. Distinctions recorded are National Medal of Arts.

• Name — Morten Lauridsen • Born — 27 February 1943 • Birthplace — Colfax, Washington, U.S. • Occupation — * Composer • Conductor • Teacher • Organizations — USC Thornton School of Music • Awards — National Medal of Arts

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Lauridsen worked as a Forest Service firefighter and lookout on an isolated tower near Mount St. Helens. He attended Whitman College for 2 years, before traveling south to study composition at the University of Southern California with Ingolf Dahl, Halsey Stevens, Robert Linn, and Harold Owen. He began teaching at USC in 1967. In 2006, Lauridsen was named an "American Choral Master" by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2007, he received the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush in a White House ceremony, "for his composition of radiant choral works combining musical power, beauty, and spiritual depth that have thrilled audiences worldwide." His works have been recorded on more than 200 CDs, five of which have received Grammy Award nominations, including O Magnum Mysterium by the Tiffany Consort, A Company of Voices by Conspirare, Sound The Bells by The Bay Brass, and two all-Lauridsen discs entitled Lux Aeterna by the Los Angeles Master Chorale led by Paul Salamunovich and Nocturnes with the Polyphony choir and the Britten Sinfonia conducted by Stephen Layton. A recipient of numerous grants, prizes, and commissions, Lauridsen chaired the composition department at the USC Thornton School of Music from 1990 to 2002 and founded the school's advanced studies program in film scoring. He has held residencies as guest composer/lecturer at over 100 universities and has received honorary doctorates from Oklahoma State University, Westminster Choir College, King's College, University of Aberdeen, and Whitman College. In 2014 he was invited to be honorary artistic president of Interkultur/World Choir Games. In 2016 he was awarded the ASCAP Foundation Life in Music Award. In late February 2020, via an update on his Facebook page, Lauridsen revealed he had retired from the Thornton School of Music in the spring of 2019, after having taught classes there for over 50 years. Lauridsen divides his time between Los Angeles and his home in the San Juan Archipelago off the northern coast of Washington State.

• Date — Composition/Song Cycle — Movements • 2012 — Prayer (On a Poem by Dana Gioia) • 2008 — Canticle/O Vos Omnes • 2006 — Chanson Eloignee (Rilke) • 2005 — Nocturnes (written for the American Choral Directors Association's Brock Commission) — I. Sa Nuit d'Été (Rainer Maria Rilke) II. Soneto de la Noche (Pablo Neruda) III. Sure on this Shining Night (James Agee) IV. Epilogue: Voici le soir (Rilke, added in 2008) • 2004 — Ave Dulcissima Maria (written for the Harvard Glee Club) • 1999 — Ubi Caritas et Amor • 1997 — Lux Aeterna (Morten Lauridsen composition) |Lux Aeterna (Text and Translation) — I. Introitus II. In Te, Domine, Speravi III. O Nata Lux IV. Veni, Sancte Spiritus V. Agnus Dei • 1997 — Ave Maria • 1994 — O Magnum Mysterium • 1993 — Les Chansons des Roses (Rilke) — I. En Une Seule Fleur II. Contre Qui, Rose III. De Ton Rêve Trop Plein IV. La Rose Complète V. Dirait-on • 1987 — Madrigali: Six "Firesongs" on Italian Renaissance Poems — I. Ov'è, Lass', Il Bel Viso? II. Quando Son Piu Lontan III. Amor, Io Sento L'alma IV. Io Piango V. Luci Serene e Chiare VI. Se Per Havervi, Oime • 1981 — Cuatro Canciones Sobre Poesias de Federico García Lorca • 1980 — Mid-Winter Songs (Robert Graves) — I. Lament for Pasiphaë II. Like Snow III. She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep IV. Mid-Winter Waking V. Intercession in Late October • 1976 — Where Have the Actors Gone • 1970 — I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes • 1970 — O Come, Let Us Sing Unto the Lord • 1967 — A Winter Come (Howard Moss) — I. When Frost Moves Fast II. As Birds Come Nearer III. The Racing Waterfall IV. A Child Lay Down V. Who Reads By Starlight VI. And What Of Love • 1965 — A Backyard Universe

Morten Lauridsen is currently one of America's most performed composers, with hundreds of performances each year throughout the world in venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Vatican, Sydney Opera House, and Westminster Abbey. Over one million copies of his scores have been sold and his Dirait-on, O Magnum Mysterium, and O Nata Lux have become best-selling octavos. Recordings of Morten Lauridsen's compositions are featured regularly on radio broadcasts throughout the United States, and he is a frequent interview guest on radio and television programs, including a KCET Life and Times program, the national broadcast of "A Portrait of Morten Lauridsen" on First Art, and a nationally broadcast Christmas Day feature on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. He has been profiled in several extended articles, including in the Los Angeles Times "Calendar", Seattle Times, Choral Journal, Choir and Organ, Chorus America's Voice, Fanfare Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. He has received over four hundred commission requests, including from Harvard University, the American Choral Director's Association, and the Pacific Chorale, and is a frequent guest lecturer and Artist/Composer-in-Residence. His principal publishers are Peermusic (New York/Hamburg) and Peer's affiliate, Faber Music (London).

• Years — Program — Position • 1968–69 — Jascha Heifetz Master Classes — Theory Instructor • 1966 — USC Music Preparatory Department — Established Theory Program • 1970–90 — Thornton School of Music Undergraduate Theory Program — Coordinator • 1972–2019 — USC Thornton School of Music — Full-Time Faculty • Scoring for Motion Pictures and TV Advanced Studies Program, Thornton School of Music, USC — Founder • 1990–2002 — Composition department at the Thornton School of Music — Chair • Current — Thornton School of Music — Distinguished Professor of Composition In addition to these positions, Lauridsen has served as artistic advisor on the boards of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Dale Warland Singers, I Cantori (New York), USC Scoring for Films/TV Program, National Children's Chorus, Creative Kids Education Foundation, Volti (San Francisco Chamber Singers), New York City Master Chorale, Jacaranda, and Angeles Chorale.

The 2012 documentary film Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen portrays the composer at his Waldron Island retreat and in rehearsals in California and Scotland. Commentaries about the composer by poet Dana Gioia, conductor Paul Salamunovich, composer/conductor Paul Mealor, composer Alex Shapiro, and conductor Robert Geary, along with performances by the San Francisco Choral Society, University of Aberdeen Choral Society and Orchestra, Con Anima Chamber Choir, and Volti, are featured. Works include O Magnum Mysterium, Lux Aeterna, Madrigali, Dirait-on, and Nocturnes, with soundtracks by Polyphony and the Britten Sinfonia (conducted by Stephen Layton), The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists (conducted by Matthew Culloton), and the Dale Warland Singers (conducted by Dale Warland).

Morten Lauridsen was recorded at birth as Morten Johannes Lauridsen. The authorities additionally record the heading Morten Johannes Lauridsen. His recorded languages were French and English.

Morten Lauridsen worked in music, conducting, music education, music composing and composed musical work. He was employed by University of Southern California.