More details on McQuade Dewhirst’s ‘Iron Composer’ challenge

In early August we brought word that UW-Green Bay Associate Prof. of Music Michelle McQuade Dewhirst had been selected from a pool of more than 200 applicants to compete as one of five finalists in an event called Iron Composer. It’s a loose takeoff on the TV show “Iron Chef” in which the competing composers will gather at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio, where they will be assigned instrumentation to compose for, as well as a “secret ingredient” that must be included in the composition. McQuade Dewhirst and the others will give presentations on their music this Thursday night (Sept. 25) on the eve of the musical showdown. They’ll learn their instrumentation and “secret ingredient” on Friday morning, have five hours to create their piece, rehearse Friday afternoon, and perform at Great Lakes Science Center that evening. The concert – and competition results – will be broadcast live on Cleveland’s classical music radio station, WCLV. Anyone who’d like to listen in can tune into the live stream online, starting here for details: http://www.ideastream.org/programs/wclv.