The Department of Music is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 prizes for distinction in Music Composition, awarded annually to undergraduate and graduate students who demonstrate distinction in the area of Music Composition, as determined by a committee of faculty members in the Composition area.
The Charles S. Miller Award (undergraduate)
Awarded annually to two graduating seniors who, in the opinion of the Faculty, have demonstrated excellence of the highest standard in the field of Music Composition.
Awarded to Eliana Shapere (Barnard '23)
Eliana Shapere is a composer, writer, and multimedia performance artist from Lexington, Kentucky. They graduated from Barnard College as a Horowitz Scholar of Distinction with a bachelor’s degree in ethnomusicology.
Eliana’s work explores the symbiosis of nature, culture, and technology using modular synthesizers, digital audio processing, and sampling/collage techniques. As a vocalist, Eliana explores the limits of vocal-cord synthesis through extended techniques and improvisation.
Eliana’s trio, Transmutation, was performed by PinkNoise Ensemble at Symphony Space. As a Horowitz Scholar, Eliana produced an intermedia performance-art ritual, bioglitch, advised by Jackie Orr. Their thesis, Modular Synthesis as a Speculative Map for Liberation, was advised by Jace Clayton. While serving as Tech Director of WBAR (Barnard College Freeform Radio) Eliana offered free DJ workshops and lessons for students. They organized and performed at their rave series in Brooklyn, SHORT CIRCUIT.
