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Associate Professor of Composition Robert Frank wins ASCAP award

Robert Frank, Associate Professor of Composition at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, was one of three composers nationwide to receive a Special Distinction citation in The ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize competition for 2008. The announcement was made earlier this month by The ASCAP Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education and talent development programs.  The Nissim Prize is presented annually by The ASCAP Foundation in New York to an ASCAP concert composer for a work requiring a conductor that has not been performed professionally. Frank was recognized for his composition Fast Falls the Eventide, a 12-minute orchestral work in one movement. The work was written for, and premiered by, the Meadows Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paul Phillips, in 2004.

The winner of the Nissim Prize was Jack Jarrett, vice president of research and development for Notion Music. The other two composers to receive Special Distinction commendation were Karim Al-Zand of Houston and Jane Antonia Cornish of Los Angeles. The competition, which is judged by a jury of professional conductors, drew more than 315 entries from around the U.S.