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 | | |  | | Marie Barker Nelson |
| | | Marie Barker Nelson (b. 1926) grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she studied piano with Becky Almond and Gladys Gladstone. She graduated from the University of Utah with a major in music, and later received a degree from the Yale School of Music where she studied with Paul Hindemith. She earned her masters degree under the guidance of LeRoy Robertson and her Ph.D. under Ramiro Cortes and Vladimir Ussachevsky at the University of Utah. She currently works with Bruce Reich.
Maurice Abravanel was instrumental in bringing about the first performance of Nelson’s tone poem "The Medead" by the Utah Symphony in 1977. Another work, "Once in Israel" was premiered by the Pro Musica chorus and orchestra. Among her other works are five musical plays for children which have been performed by the Pioneer Children’s Theater, and also two adult musicals, "Someone who Cares," and "Porter." Her string quartet has been performed at UCLA as well as in Salt Lake City , and she was a first place winner in the Utah State Fair composition competition.
Nelson has composed numerous songs including arrangements of "I Wonder and I Wander" and "Mary’s Lullaby," and a recently commissioned work, "Gloria" for mixed chorus and organ, all introduced at Pro Musica’s Christmas concerts in Salt Lake City. In 1992 she had several performances of her Sonata for Trombone and Piano (at the Contemporary Music Consortium) and a song cycle commissioned by the Salt Lake Vocal Ensemble, entitled "Song of the Goddesses" (which can be heard on MMC2010). |
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