Glen Roven

Musical polymath Glen Roven, an indefatigable composer of works for theater, opera, voice, orchestra and prolific record producer has passed away at the age of 61.

Roven first came to our attention with his charming settings of The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon. His imaginative settings and unique ability to partner with prominent actors/singers gave the works a high profile and they have been performed dozens of times by various groups.

As the music director for both inaugurations of President Bill Clinton, Roven expected to repeat the task for the inauguration of Hillary Clinton. Shocked by the turnout of the 2016 election, Roven set some of Hillary Clinton’s speeches to music: The Hillary Speeches. It has consistently been one of his most performed works, coupled with a recording and video featuring two dozen prominent singers.

Roven’s recent works include his Symphony No. 2, a choral spiritual setting I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Three Paintings by Agnes Martin.  A memorial concert is planned for the fall of this year.

NY Times article

Glen Roven bio

Glen Roven Wikipedia page

Glen Roven conducted the concerts for both of Bill Clinton’s inaugurations, and has set two of Hillary Clinton’s speeches for voice and piano. On 1/20/17 a film will be broadcast of The Hillary Speeches performed by the following singers:

Glenn Seven Allen, Dominic Armstrong, Jonathan Blalock, Lawrence Brownlee, Donna Lynne Champlin, Blythe Gaissert, Andrew Garland, Eve Gigliotti, Carin Gilfrey, Nathan Gunn, Michael Kelly, Chilina Kennedy, Kyle Ketelson, Isabel Leonard, Lester Lynch, Gilda Lyons, David Adam Moore, Sidney Outlaw, Matthew Polenzani, Patricia Racette, Daniel Sumegi, Laquita Mitchell, Camille Zamora, and Arianna Zukerman

Wikipedia has listed it as one of the major musical events of the season.

Read the New York Times feature on artists reckoning with the Trump inauguration.

Purchase the score.