# Laurence Bitensky person laptop\_windows Title: *Awake, You Sleepers!* Commission: 2000 Completed: 2002 Instrumentation: trumpet and wind ensemble Premiere Location: The Annual Conference of the International Trumpet Guild, Manchester, England Premiere Ensemble: John Hagstrom (trumpet) and the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Ensemble Notes: Known for music described as “extraordinarily sensitive and beautiful” and “speaking directly to the heart,” composer and pianist Larry Bitensky has been hailed for works that are satisfying for performers and communicative to audiences. With their emotional intensity, directness, lyrical and sinuous melodies, and funky, polyrhythmic grooves, his works range from wistfully nostalgic, deeply sad, and evocative, to exuberant, playful, and ecstatic. Educated at Skidmore College, the New England Conservatory of Music, Ithaca College, and Cornell University, Bitensky’s musical personality is rooted in a range of influences. He often seeks to merge the complex structures and expressive range of the classical masters and the innovations of the 20th-century greats with the melodic and rhythmic invention and improvisatory flow of musical traditions from India, Indonesia, the Islamic and Jewish worlds, jazz, and the Grateful Dead. His travels as part of the College’s study abroad program have also allowed him to explore the musical cultures of Morocco, Spain, Turkey, and Bali. - ## Commission Date [2000](/commissiondate/2000) - ## Completion Date [2002](/completiondate/2002) - ## Composer [Bitensky, Laurence](/composer/bitensky-laurence) - ## Commissions [Past Commissions](/pastcommisions)