Joshua Coyne
Joshua Coyne | |
|---|---|
 Joshua Coyne playing at Barack Obama's Rally for Change | |
| Background information | |
| Born | March 5, 1993 |
| Genres | Classical, Jazz, Contemporary |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, Violinist, Conductor |
| Instrument(s) | Violin, Piano, Viola |
| Website | MusicManJosh |
Joshua Coyne (born March 5, 1993) is an American musician and composer.
Personal biography[edit]
Joshua was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 5, 1993. He was adopted at the age of two and moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[1] The Coyne family was involved in the local arts community, participating at Theatre Cedar Rapids and the Cedar Rapids Symphony. Joshua quickly expressed interest and aptitude in music and took his first lessons at the Cedar Rapids Symphony School. In 2006, Joshua and some of his family moved to the Washington, D.C. area,[1] where he continued his violin studies with Lya Stern and began composition study.
After moving to D.C., Joshua performed for then candidate Barack Obama at the Stand for Change Rally in February 2008,[2] as well as for the Haitian Embassy.
Coyne composed the score to Anne and Emmett, a play about Emmett Till and Anne Frank written by Janet Langhart Cohen. The premiere of the play was to be held at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on June 10, 2009, but was canceled due to a shooting earlier that day.[3][4]
In the summer of 2011, Joshua was the subject of a series of articles describing the difficulties students may have getting scholarships, loans, and grants, to be able to afford college.[5] As a result of these articles, Joshua received numerous donations which allowed him to attend Manhattan School of Music.[6]
Joshua plays on a custom bow by Joshua Henry, and a violin he named "Lya" for his teacher, made by Joseph Curtin.[7]
Coyne is the co-subject of a documentary film entitled Sonata Mulattica, which will compare his life with the life of George Bridgetower based on the collection of poems of the same name, written by poet laureate Rita Dove.[8]
Education[edit]
- Violin instruction by Lya Stern, herself a student of Jascha Heifetz and Raphael Bronstein, who were in turn students of Leopold Auer
- Composition instruction from Judah Adashi at Peabody Institute
- Composition instruction from Joel Hoffman, chair of the composition department at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati
- Composition mentor Marvin Hamlisch[1]
- Graduated from Winston Churchill High School (Potomac, Maryland)
- Conservatory students accepted in 2011 into the Manhattan School of Music composition department, studying under Robert Sirota and Richard Danielpour
Notable accomplishments[edit]
Performances[edit]
- Performed for 13,000 at Barack Obama's Rally for Change[9]
- Performed the role of Tom Collins in Rent at the 2009 American High School Theatre Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland[10]
- Performed a solo concert at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage [1][11]
Compositions[edit]
- Composed the score for Anne and Emmett, a play by Janet Langhart Cohen about Emmett Till and Anne Frank[12]
- Daydream, a composition which won Gold at the NAACP Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics.
- Composed True Love, a three-movement ballet [13]
Awards[edit]
- Named one of Bethesda Magazine's 2011 Top Teens
- NAACP ACTSO Gold
- Discus Awards scholarship winner[14]
Other[edit]
- Subject of an article describing the difficulties students may have getting funding for college.
External links[edit]
- Daydream
- Daydream with video
- Maryland Gazette Interview (video)
- NAACP ACT-SO Awards
- Documentary "Joshua Coyne: On Composing"
- American Composer Forum profile
- Joshua Russell and Joshua Coyne at the Haitian Embassy
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Milk, Leslie. "Rising Stars", Washingtonian (magazine) (October 1, 2008).
- ^ Erin Donaghue, "Young music virtuoso tells stories through song", Gazette.net, May 20, 2009.
- ^ "Courtland Milloy on the Debut of 'Anne and Emmett'", The Washington Post, June 14, 2009.
- ^ Anne Godlasky, "Tragedy at the Holocaust museum and giving voice to the slain", USA Today, June 10, 2009.
- ^ Diana Furchtgott-Roth, "Bringing Sanity To Student Loans", Real Clear Markets, June 16, 2011.
- ^ Diana Furchtgott-Roth, "Josh Coyne shows America is still the land of opportunity", Washington Examiner, August 11, 2011.
- ^ "Selected Clients: Joshua Coyne, Violin", Joseph Curtin Studios.
- ^ Anne E. Bromley, "U.Va. Poetry Professor Rita Dove’s ‘Sonata Mulattica’ to be Adapted for Film", UVA Today, May 7, 2013.
- ^ C. Fraser Smith, "Festival of democracy comes to Maryland", The Baltimore Sun, February 17, 2008.
- ^ Erin Donaghue, "Churchill students to take RENT on the road", Gazette.net, May 6, 2009.
- ^ Joshua Coyne biography Archived 2011-05-15 at the Wayback Machine, Kennedy Center.
- ^ Jane Horwitz, "African Continuum Theatre Company Stages 'Blue Door' at Atlas", The Washington Post, April 15, 2009.
- ^ Alison Bryant, "Winston Churchill senior composes ballet", Gazette.net, May 25, 2011.
- ^ "Discus Awards - College Scholarship Winner - National Scholarship Winner Joshua Coyne". Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
- http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wypr/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1300950
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110728092020/http://www.theatrelab.org/josh.asp
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110515120605/http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=311236&paper=70&cat=180
- "Musical expression gives students an emotional outlet", The Churchill Observer, January 4, 2010
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110710164418/http://easterniowalife.com/2010/12/09/cedar-rapids-native-to-be-showcased-in-documentary/
- 1993 births
- African-American classical composers
- American classical composers
- African-American male classical composers
- American jazz violinists
- American male violinists
- American child classical musicians
- American adoptees
- Living people
- Musicians from Kansas City, Missouri
- Musicians from Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- People from Potomac, Maryland
- American male classical composers
- Jazz musicians from Maryland
- Jazz musicians from Missouri
- Classical musicians from Missouri
- Musicians from New York City
- Jazz musicians from New York (state)
- Classical musicians from New York (state)
- 21st-century American violinists
- 21st-century American male musicians
- American male jazz musicians
- 21st-century African-American musicians