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Thomas Osborne (photo courtesy of Mānoa Music Department)

Thomas Osborne, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa associate professor of music composition and theory, will be honored as the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Distinguished Composer of the Year for his work, Overheated, at the Awards Brunch of the 2013 MTNA National Conference on March 13.

The Distinguished Composer of the Year Award is given to the composer of the outstanding composition submitted as a state-commissioned work. The award, in the amount of $3,000, is made available by the MTNA Foundation Fund. Overheated was selected from among 31 works entered in this year’s competition, and commissioned by the Hawaiʻi Music Teachers Association.

Osborne is spending the 2012–2013 academic year in Seoul, South Korea, as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar, composing music for Korean and Western instruments in combination.

More about Osborne

Originally from Greenfield, Indiana, Osborne is the director of the UH Contemporary Music Ensemble. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, a master’s degree from Rice University and a doctorate degree from the University of Southern California.

Osborne’s music has been played by the American Composers Orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, the New England Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, the T’ang Quartet, pianist Jason Hardink and many others. He has received commissions from the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the New York Youth Symphony, Korean gayageum soloist Ji-Young Yi, the Walala percussion duo and the Intermezzo Chamber Music Series in Salt Lake City, among others. His music has received awards from BMI, and he has received a Distinguished Alumni award from Park Tudor School.

Music Teachers National Association

MTNA is a nonprofit organization of nearly 24,000 independent and collegiate music teachers committed to furthering the art of music through teaching, performance, composition and scholarly research. Founded in 1876, MTNA is the oldest professional music teachers’ association in the United States.

The five-day MTNA National Conference is an annual event, which takes place this year at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California, March 9–13.

From a Music Teachers National Association news release.

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