The life of the late American composer Earl Kim is the subject of this special presentation. He served our country as a distinguished US Intelligence Officer. His parents had no formal music education or training, yet Earl Kim went on to teach at Princeton and Harvard as a tenured professor. Find out why he remains an enigma and deserving of recognition for his brilliant work from two people who knew him best.
Composer Paul Salerni is the NEH Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Professor of Music at Lehigh University, where he teaches composition, theory, and directs the Lehigh University Very Modern Ensemble (LUVME). He is also founder and Artistic Director of the Monocacy Chamber Orchestra, a professional ensemble in the Lehigh Valley.
Salerni received his Ph.D. in composition from Harvard University, where he studied with Earl Kim. He has held composition fellowships from the Sheldon Foundation, the Charles Ives Festival, and the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, and has been the recipient of grants from Meet the Composer and the NEA.
Salerni’s numerous commissioned orchestral and chamber music works have been performed throughout the US, Canada, Europe and China. Recent commissions include Cape Cod Symphony, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, the Allentown Symphony, and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra. His chamber music and songs are also widely performed. Recent highlights included performances by the Da Capo Chamber Players of two song cycles, Speaking of Love and Bad Pets, at New York City’s Merkin Hall.
Salerni’s one-act opera Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast, with a libretto by Dana Gioia, won the National Opera Association’s Chamber Opera competition. A definitive recording was recently released on Naxos. His second one-act, The Life and Love of Joe Coogan, is adapted from a Dick Van Dyke TV Show episode. The original screenplay was written by Carl Reiner and adapted by librettist Kate Light. Joe Coogan had its premiere in September 2010. Both one-acts are published by Theodore Presser.
A dedicated educator, Salerni is recipient of the Stabler Award, Lehigh University’s most valued acknowledgement of excellence in teaching. His service to the larger community has also included participation on Fulbright Fellowship and NEA peer review panels and seven years’ service on the Board of Directors of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, including two years as Chair of the Board.
Salerni is married to opera and stage director Laura Johnson, and also often writes for and performs with their two sons, violinist Domenic and percussionist Miles.
Laura Johnson freelances as a director and teacher of theatre and opera. Her work embraces classical and contemporary repertoire in traditional and non-traditional productions which have earned awards and received critical acclaim. Her versatility has allowed her to direct in Italy, Korea, and Canada.
She directed the world premieres of works by Earl Kim. Ms. Johnson has staged productions at Harvard, Lehigh, Boston, and Temple Universities, Lafayette College, the University of lowa, and the University of Cincinnati. Her work has been enjoyed by audiences at the Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Opera in the Ozarks, and the Lenox Arts Center/Music Theatre Performance Group. She has worked with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Opera Company of Boston, the Manhattan School of Music, Theater for the New City, Pittsburgh Opera, the Buckingham Opera in New York City, Pittsburgh Opera Theater and the Pennsylvania Opera Theatre. Her production of L'amico Fritz for Temple Opera Theater in Philadelphia was a winner in the National Opera Association's Competition for best production.
She was the first director to stage composer Earl Kim's music/theatre pieces (based on texts by Beckett and other poets), Ms. Johnson worked closely with the composer on the world premiere of Narratives featuring Irene Worth. She directed the award winning premiere of Footfalls for Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. She was invited to direct the Korean premiere of Kim's music/theatre work with Sejong Soloists at the Great Mountains Music Festival.
Moderated by ACF Emeritus Board Chair and Chief Operating Officer Ty Kim. Mr. Kim is directing a short documentary film about the American Composer Earl Kim in the only family-authorized film or television work of its kind.