Alum wins 2015 American Prize in Composition

East Carolina University School of Music alum Travis Alford (BM, ’05) is the winner of The American Prize in Composition 2015, choral music professional division, for his composition O Fragile Human, Speak…

Travis Alford (BM, ’05) is the winner of The American Prize in Composition 2015.

The American Prize is a series of non-profit national competitions in the performing arts providing cash awards, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition for the best recorded performances by ensembles and individuals in the United States at the professional, college/university, church, community and secondary school levels. Administered by Hat City Music Theater, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Danbury, Connecticut, The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually.

Alford teaches at Johnston Community College in Smithfield, NC, and has held positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brandeis University and Gordon College. He holds degrees in theory and composition from Brandeis (PhD, ’14), the New England Conservatory (MM, ’08) and ECU. His primary teachers at ECU included Edward Jacobs, Mark Richardson and Britton Theurer.

Travis wrote Loose Strands on commission from ECU’s North Carolina NewMusic Initiative, a work premiered in 2013 by Scott Carter and members of the ECU Wind Ensemble; Carter and ECU students, alumni and faculty recorded Loose Strands in May, 2015.

— Harley Dartt