David Fuentes

David Fuentes
composition & theory, Music
(616) 526-6569
dfuentes@calvin.edu
CFAC 241

Educational background

PH.D. IN MUSIC, Music Composition and Theory, Brandeis University, 1988
MASTER OF MUSIC in Composition, University of Iowa, 1983
BACHELOR OF MUSIC, Roosevelt University, 1981

Biographical Information

David Fuentes is Professor of Composition and Theory at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he composes music for worship, television, the concert stage, theater, and dance. Listed below is a partial list (some with sound files), as well as some of his research interests.

Here is the online version of Figuring Out Melody, which presents a way of thinking about melodic figures and metric placement. It's helpful in inventing and working out your own musical ideas, as well as hearing and performing others with clarity and insight. The book has been in development for about 20 years, and deemed safe for human consumption by over 1200 students (who may remember either of its former titles: Sensible Counterpoint or Composition through Counterpoint). I hope that you enjoy it and find it useful in your own music making and hearing. Please feel free to contact me with comments and questions.

click here to download zip file (highly recommended) david_fuentes

Courses Taught

Academic Interests

Figuring Out Melody (a.k.a. Sensible Counterpoint and Composition through Counterpoint)
“Do you hear What I Hear?” This project seeks to develop methods and language to help people engage with music as a community rather than as individuals. (Sponsored in part by the McGregor Foundation and the Calvin center for Christian Scholarship; aspects of this project are carried out in joint effort with the Calvin College Student Activities Office)
“The Musician as a Follower of Jesus.” This project investigates the intersection of musical vocation and faith, in particular, seeking to promote new perspectives and questions about faith and music making that help professional musicians live out their devotion to God. (Sponsored in part by the Lilly Foundation)
“Music, Manipulation, and the Mind of God.” This project involves answering the question “What is Christian freedom, and how might music help us or hinder us in attaining it?”

Honors & Awards

Lilly Foundation for Vocation Research
Calvin Research Grant
League I.S.C.M. Leo Snyder Prize in Composition
Wellesley Composers’ Conference, Fellowship Composer
I.M.E.A. Prize in Composition
M. Gordan Fellowship
Irving Fine Fellowship
Remis Fellowship
Laureate of the Lincoln Academy
Presser Scholar Award

Selected Research & Scholarship

“Clouds, Radiance, Sweetness, Gold, and Fire,” a collaborative piece with sculptor Liviu Mocan during ArtPrize 2010 for brass and percussion. (video) (story)
“Apprehensions” a song cycle based on poems by Scott Cairns for soprano and piano [mp3] [Slow Learning.mp3]
“Brahms One: Historical Remix” for orchestra, co-written with Evan Dice. (video) (composer’s comments)
incidental music for “Backborn,” by Andras Visky. (video)
incidental music for “Hamlet” (with musical material drawn from characters’ names). [pdf]
“Covenant Hymn” for the dedication of the Covenant Fine Arts Center. [Covenant Hymn.pdf] [Covenant Hymn.mp3]
“Our Hands and Hearts we Offer” [mp3] [video]
“Neo-Baroque ‘Cello Suite” for solo violincello
“Donning Armor” for alto saxophone, violin, and dancers
“String Quartet” [mp3]
“A Call to Wisdom” for baritone voice; part of a cantata based on the book of Proverbs (in progress)
“Four Lily Psalms” “Set Me on High” an unaccompanied madrigal, “Shine Your Face Upon Us” for women’s chorus and tuba, “We Need Your Favor” for chorus and harp [mp3], and “The Oil of Gladness” for soprano, harp, and tuba, commissioned by the Calvin College Chapel series
“Interludes and Fanfares” commissioned by the Calvin College Music Department
“Matinee” for piano trio, commissioned by Ensemble Montage [mp3]
“Noting Moments” for baritone, trumpet, and piano
”Passacaglia on the Emmaus Road” commissioned by the Calvin Institute for Worship and the Arts [mp3]
“Resurrection Discourses” three songs on texts by St. Paul for baritone, alto flute, and guitar
1. Sermon on Mars Hill [mp3]
2. Consolation [mp3]
3. Petition [mp3]
“Eden’s Courtesy” for mezzo soprano and guitar
“It Just Goes to Show” a piano fantasy [mp3]
“Inner Compass theme music” (a television interview program) [mp3]
“Lend Me Light” for congregational singing commissioned by the Calvin College Chapel
“Someday all the Earth Shall Sing” an anthem for congregational singing (arrangement for chorus and orchestra available)

Performances and Exhibitions

“Listening to Music as a Community: Problems and Possibilities”
"Situating the Listener: How Music Draws Audience into the World of a Film"
“Composing with Beats: What We All Do”
“Key Features to Listen for in the Music of Elliott Carter”
“Charles Ives and the Problem of Musical Quotation”
“George Crumb on his Eightieth Birthday”
“Schoenberg’s Post Serial Tonal Music”
“The Musician as a Follower of Jesus.”
“The Musical Impulse and its Implications and Applications for Christian Scholarship”
“Writing About Musical Sounds”
“What Makes Music Spiritual?”
“Dramatic Strategy in Sessions’ ‘Concerto for Orchestra’”
“Music as a Liberal Art”

Professional Associations

BMI
Society of Composers, International
Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers