About the LMI
The Louis Moreau Institute is a non-profit arts organization formed, in part, to honor Louis Moreau Gottschalk, the 19th century New Orleans composer who bridged cultural and musical worlds himself. Directed by Morris Rosenzweig—composer, conductor, and New Orleans native who is a professor at the University of Utah—the LMI combines love of the city and music into an exciting series of musical events.
For some 200 years, New Orleans has been widely identified as a vital center of musical life. It has invented, encouraged and sustained a number of genres that have influenced musical thinking and practice worldwide. To date, forward-leaning New Music has not enjoyed the prominence or identity of the opera, rags, multicultural concert music, jazz, blues, and funk conventionally associated with the city's rich cultural heritage. The Louis Moreau Institute is poised to do so, adding to the vitality and diversity of the city's musical life, do so in a unique way, and give the future of music a desitively rite place to grow and prosper. The Louis Moreau Institute also supports emerging, young performing artists from around the country, giving them the opportunity to perform challenging repertoire in non-traditional venues and to providing them with media from these performances to boost their early career development.
The Louis Moreau Institute presented its first one-week season of performances in 2015, with performing a collection of new works from the last 100 years, including compositions by regional composers, and improvisations, utilizing nontraditional techniques, based upon a foundation of traditional regional material. The inaugural and second season featured a dynamic group of performing musicians including flautist Laura Cocks , violist Arnaud Ghillebaert, violinist Marina Kifferstein, pianist Richard Valitutto, clarinetist Tiffany Valvo, and cellist Liam Veuve. The 2016 season additionally featured an original composition by the New Orleans-based composer Ray Evanoff, winner of that year’s Louis Moreau Institute Composition Competition.
The Institute introduced a new group of institute artists, or Louies, for the 2017 season. The season featured a new instrumentation (string quartet, piano, and Horn in F) from the previous seasons that allowed the festival to explore literature centered on the piano quintet. The Ulysses String Quartet, featuring Christina Bouey, Rhiannon Banerdt, Colin Brookes, and Grace Ho, formed the cornerstone of the 2017 season, and they were joined by Adrian Blanco on piano for the next three seasons, through 2019. Russell Rybicki, Horn in F, was also featured as an institute artist for the 2017 season and bass-baritone Jonathan Harris was a featured as a guest performer during the 2019 season.
For its 2020 season the Louis Moreau Institute returned to the instrumentation from our first season and invited cellist Georgia Bourderionnet, clarinetist Nicholas Davies, pianist Wesley Ducote, flautist Francesca Ferrara, and violinist Lena Vidulich. The ensemble was joined by guest performer Stephen Montalvo and once again featured soloist Jonathan Harris in the Louisiana premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ monodrama, 8 Songs for a Mad King.
In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the LMI decided to cancel the festival’s seventh season. Although it was initially postponed to November of 2021 to comply with restrictions instituted by the city of New Orleans. The decision to cancel the season was made in August of 2021 in response to the rise of positive cases due to the then emerging Delta variant Instead, the 8th season of the festival was presented to audiences in March 2022. In addition to showcasing the organization’s institute artists, the festival featured the world premiere of a new work for Pierrot ensemble and electronics by New Orleans composer and Program Director for the Digital Media Practices Program at Tulane University, Rick Snow. The institute artists were also joined by guest performer Andrew Szypula on percussion for a performance of Fred Lerdahl’s Fantasy Etudes.
In 2023, the Louis Moreau Institute once again welcomes a new group Institute Artists, including cellist Bree Ahern, oboist Theodosia Roussos, violinist Giancarlo Latta, and violist Amy Tan. The LMI also welcomed pianist Wesley Ducote in the newly created role of Assistant Artistic Director in 2022.
The Louis Moreau Institute is grateful for support from the Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, and our private donors!
For some 200 years, New Orleans has been widely identified as a vital center of musical life. It has invented, encouraged and sustained a number of genres that have influenced musical thinking and practice worldwide. To date, forward-leaning New Music has not enjoyed the prominence or identity of the opera, rags, multicultural concert music, jazz, blues, and funk conventionally associated with the city's rich cultural heritage. The Louis Moreau Institute is poised to do so, adding to the vitality and diversity of the city's musical life, do so in a unique way, and give the future of music a desitively rite place to grow and prosper. The Louis Moreau Institute also supports emerging, young performing artists from around the country, giving them the opportunity to perform challenging repertoire in non-traditional venues and to providing them with media from these performances to boost their early career development.
The Louis Moreau Institute presented its first one-week season of performances in 2015, with performing a collection of new works from the last 100 years, including compositions by regional composers, and improvisations, utilizing nontraditional techniques, based upon a foundation of traditional regional material. The inaugural and second season featured a dynamic group of performing musicians including flautist Laura Cocks , violist Arnaud Ghillebaert, violinist Marina Kifferstein, pianist Richard Valitutto, clarinetist Tiffany Valvo, and cellist Liam Veuve. The 2016 season additionally featured an original composition by the New Orleans-based composer Ray Evanoff, winner of that year’s Louis Moreau Institute Composition Competition.
The Institute introduced a new group of institute artists, or Louies, for the 2017 season. The season featured a new instrumentation (string quartet, piano, and Horn in F) from the previous seasons that allowed the festival to explore literature centered on the piano quintet. The Ulysses String Quartet, featuring Christina Bouey, Rhiannon Banerdt, Colin Brookes, and Grace Ho, formed the cornerstone of the 2017 season, and they were joined by Adrian Blanco on piano for the next three seasons, through 2019. Russell Rybicki, Horn in F, was also featured as an institute artist for the 2017 season and bass-baritone Jonathan Harris was a featured as a guest performer during the 2019 season.
For its 2020 season the Louis Moreau Institute returned to the instrumentation from our first season and invited cellist Georgia Bourderionnet, clarinetist Nicholas Davies, pianist Wesley Ducote, flautist Francesca Ferrara, and violinist Lena Vidulich. The ensemble was joined by guest performer Stephen Montalvo and once again featured soloist Jonathan Harris in the Louisiana premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ monodrama, 8 Songs for a Mad King.
In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the LMI decided to cancel the festival’s seventh season. Although it was initially postponed to November of 2021 to comply with restrictions instituted by the city of New Orleans. The decision to cancel the season was made in August of 2021 in response to the rise of positive cases due to the then emerging Delta variant Instead, the 8th season of the festival was presented to audiences in March 2022. In addition to showcasing the organization’s institute artists, the festival featured the world premiere of a new work for Pierrot ensemble and electronics by New Orleans composer and Program Director for the Digital Media Practices Program at Tulane University, Rick Snow. The institute artists were also joined by guest performer Andrew Szypula on percussion for a performance of Fred Lerdahl’s Fantasy Etudes.
In 2023, the Louis Moreau Institute once again welcomes a new group Institute Artists, including cellist Bree Ahern, oboist Theodosia Roussos, violinist Giancarlo Latta, and violist Amy Tan. The LMI also welcomed pianist Wesley Ducote in the newly created role of Assistant Artistic Director in 2022.
The Louis Moreau Institute is grateful for support from the Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, and our private donors!
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Morris Rosenzweig, Director Alan Gerson, Associate Director Mary Jane Ciccarello, Secretary Seth Harris, Treasurer Roger Dickerson Lawrence Dutton Julie Schwam Harris Seth Harris Lois Martin Devin Maxwell Mary Beth Meyer Dennis Miller Eric Murrell Chuck Taylor Raymond Tymas-Jones |
