Stephen Spinelli and Tamara Acosta have been nominated for a President's Award for Employee Excellence for their project, ONEcomposer, which celebrates musicians whose contributions have been historically erased. Spinelli, a senior lecturer and Cornell's assistant director of choral programs, and Acosta, a visiting lecturer in voice, are up for the ONE Cornell Award, which recognizes employees who have implemented a project or solved a problem that positively impacts Cornell and the greater community.
ONEcomposer provides a platform for the study, performance, and discussion of underrepresented composers' lives and legacies to promote a more complete understanding of our musical heritage. ONEcomposer's inaugural season focused on Florence Price (1887–1953). In 1933, Price’s Symphony in E Minor was premiered by the Chicago Symphony, making her the first Black female composer to win a premiere with a major American orchestra. Despite isolated triumphs, Price was largely excluded from mainstream recognition; she left the world a wealth of symphonies, concertos, spiritual arrangements, art songs and chamber works, few of them performed since her death.
ONEcomposer had a significant impact over the past year, growing from a collaboration between Spinelli and Acosta, to include projects with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Cornell Concert Series, and musicians, faculty, students, and audiences from around the world. ONEcomposer hosted an eight-part speaker series with leading Black artists and scholars, five live-streamed performances, two lecture recitals, and two masterclasses. These events were provided for free, and reached hundreds of Cornellians, and thousands beyond.
The Philadelphia Orchestra's performance of Price’s Piano Concerto was credited to ONEcomposer, resulting from a pitch Spinelli and Acosta gave to the orchestra’s executive leadership. Representing Cornell’s integrity as a research university, they worked with the orchestra’s librarian to correct publishing flaws in the score and parts. Spinelli and Acosta were invited to the recording, which was the first time the piece had ever been played by a major American orchestra. The performance and project received local and national acclaim, including coverage in the Cornell Chronicle, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and on NPR’s Here & Now.
The second season of ONEcomposer will focus on Margaret Bonds, a prodigious composer, pianist and teacher, born in Chicago in 1913. The season announcement accompanied a new website launch, to fully reflect ONEcomposer's past, present, and future projects.
The winners of the President's Awards for Employee Excellence will be announced on November 19, 2021.
