FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/15/2022
ASB Announces Winner of Young Composers Contest
Austin, TX:
After an extensive review process, Dr. Christopher Lowry, 34, of Hoover, Alabama, has been selected as the winner of the Austin Symphonic Band’s inaugural Young Composers Contest. A panel of adjudicators selected Dr. Lowry out of a field of sixty applicants.
In addition, five applicants were selected as finalists. Those include (listed alphabetically):
Amy Austria, 24, Austin, TX
Harrison Collins, 23, Little Elm, TX
JaRod Hall, 31, San Antonio, TX
Dr. Shuying Li, 33, Roseville, CA
Dr. Keane Southard, 35, Medina, OH
Christopher Lowry, DMA
Composer, Violist, Recording Engineer
About Dr. Christopher Lowry
A two-time prizewinner in the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and Grand Prize winner in the Lewisville Lake Symphony International String Competition, Dr. Christopher Lowry is emerging as one of the leading violists and composers of his generation. Equally active as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, Lowry has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in this country and abroad. He recently led a consortium of 20 violists to commission the first major Mexican viola concerto by Eduardo Gamboa, which he will premiere in 2023 with the Orquesta Sinfonica Sinaloa de los Artes.
In September 2022, Lowry joined the Alabama Symphony Orchestra as their new principal violist after serving three years as principal viola with the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra and nearly a decade as principal viola for both the Baton Rouge and Acadiana Symphony Orchestras. He is currently the violist of Lagniappe Trio and the Constantinides String Quartet, with whom he performed in Carnegie Hall in September 2019 and October 2022.
As a composer, Dr. Lowry has won prizes in an impressive number of composition contests, including the Sousa/ABA/Ostwald Composition Award, the Association of Texas Small School Bands Composition Competition, Dallas Winds Fanfare Competition, and many others.
His music has been recorded by the Brno Philharmonic (Ablaze Records) and performed by symphonies in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Hall, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and the Ryman Auditorium.
Lowry holds both doctorate and masters degrees from Louisiana State University, where he studied viola with Elias Goldstein and composition with the late Dinos Constantinides. He holds a bachelors degree from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, where he studied viola with Kathryn Plummer and John Kochanowski, and composition with Michael Alec Rose, Michael Slayton, Michael Kurek and Stan Link.
Christopher Lowry resides in Hoover, AL, with his wife Casie and their orange tabby Ato.
For Christopher Lowry’s complete resume, click here.
Comments from ASB’s Music Director:
Music Director Dr. Kyle Glaser said:
"The Austin Symphonic Band is extremely pleased to be entering this creative partnership with Dr. Lowry. Christopher’s many accolades speak for themselves, and his creativity and musical skill are evident in his existing catalogue of works. ASB looks forward to bringing this new piece for band to life, and I am positive that this collaboration will bring about a substantive addition to the wind band repertoire.”
Addressing the selection process, Glaser continued:
“We were absolutely thrilled with the quantity and quality of applicants in our inaugural year. I would also like to recognize our five finalists, whose submissions deserved special commendation for their craft and artistry. This new endeavor by ASB helps us meet our mission of bringing new music to the community, and to see such excitement and eagerness by so many young composers who want to be a part of that is truly a wonderful thing.”
Acknowledgements:
The Austin Symphonic Band would like to thank Dr. Jason Nam, Associate Director of Bands at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, for serving as an outside reviewer for the contest.
Dr. Lowry’s new work will be premiered by the Austin Symphonic Band at an indoor concert during the 2023-2024 season.
For further details about the Young Composers Contest, click here.
About the Austin Symphonic Band:
ASB (founded 1981) is nationally recognized as one of the finest community music ensembles in the country, acclaimed by audiences at the Midwest Clinic International Band, Orchestra and Music Conference, and the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention. The band received the John Phillip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Scroll for outstanding achievement as a community band in 1994 and was named the “Official Band of the City of Austin” by the Austin City Council in June 1989.
The ninety-plus members of ASB come from all walks of life and unite in a common passion for making music. ASB presents three indoor season concerts each year and four free outdoor concerts: Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July and Fall.