Alan Lourens

Alan Lourens (born 1966) is a classical musician, composer, euphonium player and conductor from Perth, Western Australia. He is the head of the UWA Conservatorium of Music.

Professor

Alan Lourens

FRSA
Born1966
CitizenshipAustralian
OccupationHead, UWA Conservatorium of Music
Years active2012 - Present
Academic background
Alma materIndiana University Jacobs School of Music
Doctoral advisorRay E Cramer, Daniel Perantoni
Academic work
DisciplineMusic (conductor, composer, euphonium player)

Biography

Lourens was born in Perth, Western Australia, and attended Scarborough Senior High School, where he won the prize for music in his graduating year. After completing a Teaching degree at the Western Australian College of Advanced Education, Lourens taught Brass and Classroom Music in public schools, based at Kelmscott Senior High School, and including conducting and teaching brass at Churchlands Senior High School and Perth Modern School. He returned to study at Indiana University, earning a Masters Degree in music (in Euphonium Performance) in 1992, and a Doctorate (in Wind Conducting) in 1999. He was also awarded a Performers Certificate for the quality of his Masters recital.

From 2000, Lourens has held leadership positions at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (as Head of Classical Music), and has held positions in Singapore(at Lasalle College of the Arts),[1] and in Dubai.[2] His name was also associated with a possible appointment as Head of the ANU School of Music.[3][4] In 2009, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

UWA Conservatorium of Music

Lourens was appointed as Head the UWA School of Music in 2012, and reappointed in 2016.[5] He was also appointed as a full Professor of Music in 2016. Lourens oversaw the change to the name UWA Conservatorium of Music,[6][7] as well as a rise in the ranking of the School into the top 50 in the world, according to the QS Subject Ranking in Performing Arts.[8]

During his tenure, the school has embedded "Melbourne Model" degree structures,[9] which has seen the school more than double in size.[10]

Lourens is a leading contributor to the Australian national debate surrounding the place of music in society.,[11][12][13][14] arguing the for educational benefits of music for all.

Musical Activities

Lourens is a former conductor of WA Brass,[15][16] one of Australia's leading[17] British-style brass bands with which he has been associated since 1983, as well as conducting the UWA Orchestra,[18][19] and has previously directed the UWA Wind Orchestra. Lourens previously conducted the University Wind Orchestra, which was an amalgamated ensemble of the UWA and ECU, which was cited as one of the first tertiary wind groups in the country.[20] He has also been a guest conductor with the Fremantle Symphony Orchestra,[21] Philharmonic Winds (Singapore), and others across Australia.

Lourens has been the conductor of many world premier performances, including Peter Sculthorpes' Lament for Violin, Cello and Strings.[22]

Author and Composer

As an author, he has made contributions to the MBM Times Vol 5,[23] Vol 6[24] and Vol 7. He also co-authored two books on University Administration,[25][26] as well as contributions to the popular press.[27] Lourens contributed to the "Teaching Music in Performance Through Band" series in Vol 2[28] and 3,[29] in "Teaching Music Through Performing Marches",[30] and about repertoire in the influential California Music Educators Association Magazine.[31] He is a frequent presenter of concert talks for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.[32][33]

In 2016, the New Zealand Euphonium Virtusoso Riki McDonnell performed the world premier of his Euphonium Concerto (for Euphonium and Orchestra) with the composer conducting.[34] This work, like most of his output, is tonal and melodic. Lourens has also written other solo works for Euphonium and Cornet, and works for Concert and Brass Band. His most popular works are arrangements; Czardas by Vittorio Monti (for Euphonium and various ensembles) and Bluebells of Scotland for Tuba and Band, which is listed in the "Guide to the Tuba Repertoire".[35] The Trumpet/Cornet player Sean Priest[36] commissioned and recorded two arrangements for his album "Crossover", featuring Priest and the Kew Brass Band.[37]

In 2018 he was an adjudicator at the Australian National Band Championships, as Chief Concert Adjudicator and in the A Grade Brass category.[38][39] He has previously been an adjudicator at the Tasmanian Band Championships,[40][41] and Australian Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA) events in WA,[42] Queensland and South Australia.[43]

Selected compositions/arrangements
  • Euphonium Concerto[44] (Premiered by Riki McDonnell)
  • Euphonium Sonata "Arcades and Alleys"[45] (Premiered by Fletcher Mitchell)[46]
  • Rite of Passage "Variations on a Theme of Paganini"[47] Selected as the Open Euphonium Test Piece for the Australian Band Championships 2020. (Championships cancelled due to COVID-19).
  • Three Miniatures[48] for Euphonium and Piano
  • Canonfire: Romping after Pachelbel for Concert Band[49] (Premiered by California State University, Northridge Wind Ensemble)
  • Vittorio Monti: Czardas arrangement for Euphonium.[50]
  • Arthur Pryor arr Lourens, Bluebells of Scotland (for Tuba and Piano and Tuba and Band)[51]
  • Steven Bryant Ecstatic Dances.[52][53] (arranged for Brass Band by Alan Lourens)

Selected recordings
  • Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12 (WA Youth Orchestra)[54] (Conductor)
  • Ted Egan "We Are the Anzacs"[55] (Conductor)
  • Luminosity: Musical Treasures[56] (Euphonium)
  • Hass: Lost in the Funhouse[57] (Euphonium)

Degrees and Awards
  • 1987 Diploma of Teaching, Western Australian College of Advanced Education
  • 1989 Bachelor of Education Western Australian College of Advanced Education
  • 1992 Master of Music (Euphonium Performance) Indiana University, Bloomington
  • 1992 Performance Certificate Indiana University, Bloomington
  • 1999 Doctor of Music (Wind Conducting) Indiana University, Bloomington
  • 2009 Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
gollark: They should be brighter than glowstone so you have an actual reason to use them, and come in a wide range of exciting colours.
gollark: Tritium lamps would be nice, at least.
gollark: It sounds more like it's meant to just make things glowy so they're more visible.
gollark: Would that not make seeing *worse*?
gollark: I'm not asking "how does it glow", I'm asking "why do you want goggles filled with glowy stuff".

References
  1. "New President for Lasalle".
  2. "Department of Training Guide".
  3. Hardy, Karen (28 Nov 2016). "ANU School of Music still searching for a head". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  4. Trask, Stephen (Feb 9, 2017). "Ken Lampl named to lead the School of Music". Canberra Times. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  5. "Updated Associate Deans and Heads of School".
  6. "UWA Forward News Dec 2017".
  7. Matchett, Stephen (Dec 4, 2017). "Something to sing about (quietly) at UWA". Campus Morning Mail. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  8. "UWA Media, March 2017".
  9. "UWA Media Release, February 2012".
  10. "UWA News, April 16, 2016".
  11. Rowbottom, Jill (Jan 9, 2012). "Diversity to Improve the Tempo of Learning". The Australian Newspaper.
  12. Laurie, Victoria (Nov 2, 2017). "Perth's classical concerts are in want of an audience". The Australian Newspaper. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  13. Hampson, Katie (October 18, 2017). "Give Them More Music". The West Australian Newspaper.
  14. Hampson, Katie (October 12, 2016). "Top Ten Health Regrets". The West Australian Newspaper. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  15. "WA Brass Conductor".
  16. "Brass Bands Join Forces". Busselton Dunsborough Times. March 17, 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  17. Banwell, Anthony. "The Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia Brass Band". 4 Bars Rest. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  18. "Holdsworth Events".
  19. "Schott Guillimant Performances".
  20. Whiteoak, general editors John; Scott-Maxwell, Aline (2003). Currency companion to music and dance in Australia. Sydney: Currency House. p. 181. ISBN 0958121311.
  21. "FSO Guest Conductors".
  22. "List of Works by Sculthorpe: Lament". Faber Music. Faber Music. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  23. "MBM Times Vol 5".
  24. "MBM Times Vol 6".
  25. Lourens, Berry, Ely (2010). Universities. Charleston, SC: TPG. ISBN 978-1451526592.
  26. Lourens, Ely, Berry (2011). Universities: Curriculum Development. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1452804002.
  27. Yeoman, William (16 Dec 2015). "Young musicians take note of mentor". The West Australian. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  28. Blocher, Larry; Corporon, Eugene; Cramer, Ray; Lautzenheiser, Tim; Lisk, Edward S.; Miles, Richard; Stamp, Jack (1998). Teaching music through performance in band. Compiled and edited by Richard Miles (2nd ed.). Chicago: GIA Publications. ISBN 978-1579990282.
  29. Blocher, Larry; Corporon, Eugene Migliaro; Cramer, Ray; Lautzenheiser, Tim; Lisk, Edward S.; Miles, Richard (2001). Teaching music through performance in band. Compiled and edited by Richard Miles (2nd ed.). Chicago: GIA Publications. ISBN 978-1579990923.
  30. Chevallard, Carl (2005). Teaching music through performing marches. Compiled and edited by Richard Miles. Chicago: GIA Publications. ISBN 978-1579992613.
  31. Lourens, Alan (Winter 2011). "Audible Music-Like Repertoire". CMEA Magazine: 25–27.
  32. "WASO Brahms Festival Programme". Archived from the original on 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
  33. "WASO Pre-Concert Talks 2018".
  34. "UWA University News, May 2016".
  35. Perantoni, compiled and ed. by R. Winston Morris and Daniel (2007). Guide to the tuba repertoire : the new tuba source book ([Online-Ausg.] ed.). Bloomington, Ind. [u.a.]: Indiana Univ. Press. pp. 83, 115. ISBN 978-0253347633.
  36. "Sean Priest, University of Tasmania".
  37. "Sean Priest, Crossover CD".
  38. "National Band Championships Adjudicators". Archived from the original on 2018-03-17. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  39. "4 Bars Rest Australian Nationals Report".
  40. "2014 Tasmania Band Championships Programme" (PDF).
  41. Woods, Emily (August 10, 2014). "Big bands make loud entrance". The Advocate. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  42. Ace, Emily (24 May 2018). "Eisteddfod attracts the best". South Western Times. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  43. "ABODA SA Results 2004" (PDF).
  44. "Cimarron Music Euphonium Concerto".
  45. "Arcades and Alleys". www.cimarronmusic.com. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  46. "Fletcher Mitchell Events".
  47. "Rite of Passage". Cimarron Music. Cimarron Music. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  48. "Three Miniatures". Cimarron Music. Cimarron Music. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  49. "Canonfire Romping after Pachelbel".
  50. "Cimarron Music: Czardas".
  51. "Cimarron Music Bluebells of Scotland".
  52. "Bryant: Ecstatic Dances".
  53. Rich, Nicholas. "North Carolina Brass Band Gives Outstanding Performance". CVNC.
  54. "Power 2002".
  55. AO, Ted Egan (2014). Songs of grace : the Anzacs : Australia and New Zealand in world war 1 (Second ed.). ISBN 9780987381156.
  56. "Luminosity Music Treasures".
  57. "Hass: Signals".
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