| Randolph L Partain studied piano and composition at Florida Southern College (B.S.M., summa cum laude, 1995), and he received a Master’s Degree in Composition from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University (Houston) in May 2000, having studied under Richard Lavenda and Anthony Brandt. He has received two commissions from the Woodlands Symphony Orchestra (Texas): Landscape of a Lifetime, premiered in November 2003, and Dancers, premiered in February 2005. Early 2005 also saw his string quartet Seven Oblivions performed by the Eppes Quartet at Florida State University’s Festival of New Music. Last year, in addition to receiving a reading of his work Chronosphere by the renowned ensemble Speculum Musicae, Mr. Partain premiered his commissioned choir piece Emmaus and performed his work Faerie Ring for computer and live performer at the LaTex Electronic Music Festival hosted by Rice University. He also received a second performance of Kelevsma: a ritual piece for clarinet, harp, and double bass in 2004. During the summer of 2004, his song cycle Pax Americana: Songs of Protest received its European premiere in a public concert at the Antonin Dvorak Museum in Prague during his participation in the Czech-American Summer Music Institute’s Eleventh Annual Summer Program in Composition, directed by Ladislav Kubik. The short film Total Control (1999) by Houston-based Dominion Films featured clarinet and piano music by Mr. Partain, and his naked and fiery forms, for concert band, was premiered by Florida Southern College’s wind ensemble on the Spring Gala concert of 1998. From 2000 to 2002, he completed the course work for certification as a music therapist at Sam Houston State University. While in Houston, he has taught a variety of undergraduate music courses at Rice University, Sam Houston State University, and Houston Community College. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Composition at Rice University, under the tutelage of Arthur Gottschalk.
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