It was just announced that the Institute of European Studies in Vienna named Nancy Van de Vate as composer in residence.

Van de Vate, who was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, is a prolific composer and educator, as well as an active performer.  Her works are frequently performed internationally, and she frequently guest lectures in Austria, Germany, and the United States.  Van de Vate also has the honor of being one of the most recorded composers of orchestral music in the world, and Schwann Opus and Bielefelder catalogs call her the most recorded woman composer in the world.  Two of her operas, All Quiet on the Western Front and Where the Cross is Made, have been nominated for the Pultizer Prize.

One of her most significant contributions to the larger music community, however, was the founding of the International League of Women Composers in 1975.  This is second only to her active role in recording the works of women composers under the Vienna Modern Masters label, which she co-founded in 1990.

Nancy Van de Vate’s contributions to the music community have already been tremendous, and I can only hope and imagine that she will continue on to even more success as she continues to work to recognize the accomplishments and music of historic and contemporary women composers.