Keyword: Neil Wisensel

CMU professor gives light to the darkness of history with WSO commission

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 @ 11:37 AM

Neil Weisensel, CMU's Associate Professor of Music, was recently commissioned to write an orchestral composition to be performed by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO). "Centuries of Hope: Variations + Theme," was performed by the WSO at the Winnipeg New Music Festival on January 27, 2026.

Inspired by composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Frederick Rzewski, whose work responds to the rise of fascism in the 20th century, "Centuries of Hope" is itself a tribute to citizens' strength and resilience in the face of authoritarianism.

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