Spring Concert 2010-11

Eric Guinivan’s music is characterized by a unique blend of delicately simple musical textures and highly intricate rhythmic processes. Eric’s works have been performed across the United States as well as in France and Japan. His music has been performed by the Young People’s Symphonic Orchestra of St. Louis, the Delaware Youth Symphony Orchestra, Quey Percussion Duet, USC Thornton Symphony and Contemporary Music Ensemble, Ensembles at Indiana University and University of Southern California, and soloists such as flautist Lissie Okopny and cellist Rose Bellini. Eric’s music has received several awards and honors, including the 2008 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, 2007 BMI Student Composer Awards, 2nd Place in the 2007 Quey Percussion Duo Composition Contest, and a nomination for Best Original Score in the 2005 New England College Film Festival. Eric has received commissions from the Cincinnati Symphony, the New York Youth Symphony, and the Delaware Youth Symphony Orchestra. His compositions for percussion are published by HoneyRock Percussion Publishers and are available through Steve Weiss Music.

Eric began studying percussion at age 10 and is an active performer currently based in Los Angeles. Currently the Principal Timpanist of the YMF Debut Orchestra and a founding member of the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, Eric has performed with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Bloomington Indiana Symphony Orchestra, Monday Evening Concerts, University of Southern California Contemporary Music Ensemble, Indiana University New Music Ensemble, Orchestras at Indiana University and University of Southern California, and at the 2005 and 2006 Midwest Composers Symposiums. In 2005 and 2006 Eric was awarded the Indiana University School of Music’s Performer’s Certificate for exceptional solo performance, becoming one of a select few undergraduates to twice receive the honor. In 2005 Eric commissioned and premiered the 2005 BMI Award-Winning Composition I Can’t Sleep for Percussion Solo by fellow Indiana University composer Jeffrey Stanek.

Active in Music Education, Eric is currently a Graduate Teaching Fellow at the University of Southern California where he teaches Music Theory and Aural Skills. Since beginning study at Indiana University in 2002, Eric has taught high school wind ensembles and percussion ensembles in Indiana and Delaware and has written and arranged music for several high school wind ensembles in Indiana, Delaware, and North Carolina. Eric has presented guest masterclasses and percussion clinics at Chapman University in Orange, California and at Sakuyo Kurashiki University in Okayama, Japan. Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, Eric received Bachelor of Music Degrees in Composition and Percussion Performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of
Music and a Master of Music Degree in Composition from the University Of Southern California Thornton School Of Music. Eric is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at USC where he currently studies Composition with Stephen Hartke and Percussion with Erik Forrester.