The Cornell Orchestras won an Adventurous Programming Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the League of American Orchestras (LAO), June 12 at the 63rd annual LAO conference in Denver. Steven Stucky, the Given Foundation Professor of Music, accepted the award.

Cornell Symphony Orchestra earned third place in the collegiate category and was the only collegiate orchestra made up of mostly non-music majors.

"I am especially proud of our students who come from all around the university to represent Cornell in this manner," said Chris Younghoon Kim, director of orchestras at Cornell. "It is usually more challenging to prepare and perform contemporary music than traditional music."

The ASCAP Adventurous Programming Awards went to 26 professional, civic, youth, festival and collegiate orchestras nationwide to honor their commitment to contemporary composers and music written within the last 25 years. More than $670,000 has been awarded to orchestras since the awards were established in 1959.

Jurors look at the number of contemporary works performed and the variety and creativity of new-music programming during the season; commissioned works and premieres; and concerts that challenge audiences, build repertoire and strengthen support for American composers in this country and abroad.

Cornell concerts in the 2007-08 season featured contemporary works by Adam Glaser, Osvaldo Golijov, Marc Mellits and Christopher Rouse; and Cornell faculty composers Stucky ("Colbourn Variations") and Roberto Sierra ("Concerto for Viola, Percussion and String Orchestra"). The season also included world premieres by Paul Leary ("Do We See the Trends of Our Times!" performed by beatboxer Adam Matta and the Cornell Chamber Orchestra), Chris Gendall ("Holy Roller for Turntable and Orchestra") and Norbert Palej ("Berceuse: 1940," orchestral version, conducted by Palej).

For more information, see http://www.arts.cornell.edu/orchestra.