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Chicago composer Chris Lemons has an abiding interest in both classical and rock music. His most recent release, Fantasy and Icon, was recorded with the Lithuania State Orchestra and rock musicians from Chicago and New York. Most recently he has been composing a series of chamber works (what Lemons calls, "chamber metal") of which The Hardening, for violin, viola, cello, electric guitar, piano, bass, and drums--and Sonata for electric guitar and piano--are examples. All of these works exemplify Lemons' conviction that elements of rock music add urgency to the fine musical discourse of the classical masters. Lemons studied violin with John Fredrickson at the American Conservatory of Music, where he received degrees in Violin Performance and Music Education, and he earned the Ph.D. in Music History and Literature from Northwestern University.
He's studied improvisation with Alan
Holdsworth and has worked (and
occasionally performed) as a Rock
Guitarist most of his life.
He hopes to establish a Rock Studies
Program at DePaul University where he currently teaches
within the Music School . He's two courses into the
plan: Music and the Visual Image "From
Wagner to MTV" covers opera, film, and
music video & Rock Musics of the World
is a history of the form, from its
beginnings through current trends. He
also teaches courses in Music Theory,
History, Form and Analysis, and has been
known to teach Composition when the
right student kicks his door in.
He and Nancy, his wife of 25 years, live
in Chicago. |
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email Chris
[email protected]
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