USC composer wins Ives award

Composer Stephen Hartke, a professor of composition at the USC Thornton School of Music, has been selected by the American Academy of Arts and Letters to receive the Charles Ives Living Award.

The idea behind the prize, which awards an income of $75,000 per year for three years, is to give a promising American composer freedom to concentrate on composition; the recipient agrees to forgo salaried employment during those three years. The prize carries no restrictions on accepting commissions.

“There’s no more precious gift to an artist than time to concentrate exclusively on work,” said Hartke, 51.

Hartke’s piece “King of the Sun” will be performed Saturday as part of the Creation Festival at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. His Symphony No. 3 received its world premiere in New York in September.