Persis Parshall Vehar

Hailed by the New York Times for her musical “honesty, clarity and compositional skill,” Persis Parshall Vehar has had works commissioned and performed by leading orchestras, opera companies, ensembles, soloists, and schools throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, South America, and Europe. With over 300 compositions ranging from solo song to full orchestral works and operas, Vehar’s works have been performed at many of the leading concert venues including the Royal Festival Hall (London), Graz Music Festival (Austria), Copenhagen Hall (Denmark), McMaster & Brock Universities (Canada), Uppland University (Sweden), Ohio State University, Duke University, Kleinhans Music Hall (Buffalo, NY), Spoleto USA (Charleston, NC), National Women’s Historical Museum (Seneca Falls, NY), New York State Fair on “Equality & Social Justice day,” and Carnegie Recital Hall.

A three-time Grammy nominee, Vehar is included in the International Museum’s Collection of Distinguished Musicians in London and the Bibliothèque Internationale De Musique Contemporaine in Paris. She is the recipient of 48 annual ASCAP Plus Awards for excellence in composition, five Buffalo News Music Critic's Yearly Awards, and seven Meet the Composer Grants. She is listed in the International Who’s Who in Music, and the International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. Among her publishers are C. F. Peters, Colla Voce, and Boosey & Hawkes. Her compositions are broadcast regularly on National and International Public Radio & Television. Among others, she has been commissioned by the Buffalo (NY) Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, State University of New York at Potsdam, Music Teachers Association of New Mexico, Poet Judith Wolf (Arizona), Syracuse (NY) Society for New Music, the New England Music Camp (Maine) and the New York Treble Society (NY City).

Her recent CDs include “CITY OF LIGHT, The Music of Persis Parshall Vehar,” featuring Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Principal Clarinet John Fullam, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta, Conductor, the Amberg Chamber Ensemble, & Pianist Vehar. “FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP” was recorded by Maggio Musicale Principal Trumpet David Kuehn, Colorado Symphony Trumpet Daniel Kuehn, & Organist Ken Mervine (Naxos). On MODERN AMERICAN ART SONG, her song cycle, “WOMEN, WOMEN,” was recorded by Mezzo Soprano Sharon Mabry, & Pianist Patsy Wade (Albany). MUSICAL LANDSCAPES FOR TRUMPET, including her sonata, “SOUND-PIECE for Trumpet/flugelhorn/Piccolo Trumpet, and Piano, was recorded by Trumpeter David Kuehn and Pianist Persis Vehar (Naxos).

“Congratulations Persis! I was dazzled by the opera and thought it was a fantastic production with great singers. The libretto was stunning and the music was so powerful and so lyrical.” JoAnn Falletta, Conductor. “A gifted and artful composer, her music is stunning to listen to and to perform. Persis crafts each line to fit the voice like a glove.”

Vehar has been consultant to the New York State Council for the Arts, Collaborative Pianist in the Rockefeller Kennedy Center Voice Competition for Excellence in American Music, judge for the Internationally known Crane festival of New Music Solo Performer Competition, Auditor for the NY State Council for the Arts, and Composer Panelist for the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Biography provided by composer.
Photo: Tom Wolf