about
MISSION AND HISTORY
Voices of Change performs, celebrates and encourages new chamber music in North Texas. We are the Southwest’s premiere professional chamber music ensemble dedicated to the performance of the music of our time. Now in its 50th year, Voices of Change fills a unique niche in the music world by performing small ensemble works by 20th and 21st century composers. Our mission is to promote the works of contemporary composers through performance, commissioning, recording, and education.
Founded in 1974 by pianist Jo Boatright and clarinetist Ross Powell, Voices of Change is one of the longest-lived and most distinguished new music ensembles in the United States. In 1999, Voices of Change was a finalist for the prestigious Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Small Classical Ensemble, a first for any Dallas/Fort Worth area chamber music ensemble. Voices of Change has been awarded the annual ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming an unprecedented five times and has recorded LPs and CDs on the CRI, Crystal, Innova, Albany, Centaur, and Redwood labels.
The artists are first-tier professional musicians playing music written by well-known and up-and-coming professional composers. The music of living composers is challenging and requires the skill and dedication of accomplished classical musicians to be played.
Voices of Change has presented over 75 world premieres, performed music by over 300 composers, and made numerous recordings. Voices of Change is also dedicated to commissioning new works and recording them. The ensemble co-produces an annual young composers competition to introduce and support the music of promising college and high-school composers.
Jonathan Cziner (silent C, rhymes with diner or minor) is an American composer whose music combines colorful harmony and texture with nostalgic lyricism, creating a sound-world that ranges from dark and mysterious to vibrant. His music has been praised for its "brilliant timbrel effects and contrasting moments of resonance and delicate filagree" (Theater Jones), “daring harmonic explorations” (Dallas Morning News) and “individual voice and the knowledge and technique to convey ideas in a striking and kaleidoscopic manner” (Chicago Classical Review).
Jonathan's works have been performed by ensembles including the Minnesota Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, as well as the New York Youth Symphony, Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, and New Juilliard Ensemble, and led by acclaimed conductors including Osmo Vänskä, David Robertson, Ruth Reinhardt, and Michael Repper. His chamber music has been performed by the likes of cellists Julian Schwarz and Juliette Herlin; violinist Stella Chen; harpist Emily Levin; guitarist Colin Davin, and pianist Steven Masi among others.
Jonathan Cziner
artistic staff
Artistic Director
In addition to a 2018 Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Cziner has received numerous awards including the William Schuman Prize for most outstanding score at the BMI Student Composer Awards as well as two consecutive Palmer Dixon Prizes (2017 and 2018), awarded to the most outstanding work composed at the Juilliard School. Cziner was named Composer-in-Residence of the Illinois Philharmonic for their 2022-2023 season and composed three new works for the orchestra including his first symphony, Celestial Symphony.
As an educator he heads the composition program of the Charles Ives Music Festival, and has taught numerous composition seminars with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, inspiring a new generation of young composers. Equally dedicated to film scoring, he has worked with writer/director Nora Unkel on numerous films including her first feature film, A Nightmare Wakes, now streaming on Shudder. Cziner received a Bachelor of Music degree at New York University studying with Justin Dello Joio and completed both his Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Robert Beaser Jonathan lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife Emily Levin, the Principal Harpist of the Dallas Symphony.
Staff
Staff and Board
Kenton Kravig and David Williams, General Managers
Jonathan Cziner, Artistic Director
Maria Schleuning, Artistic Director Emeritus
Emily Levin, Marketing Coordinator
board of directors
LeAnn Binford - Vice President
Savannah Ekrut
Arend J. Koch
Lawson Malnory
Linda S. McDonald - Treasurer
Armando Rivera
Clint Strong - President
Stanley Ukeni
Donna Williams - Secretary