Legacy Projects

WCF aims to further the work of composers after they have passed on. Several projects are in development, in collaboration with other organizations. Goals include the archiving, preservation, and dissemination of scores and recordings of selected composers.

The projects are undertaken to contribute to the history of composition in the region, and to inspire the next generation of composer and performers.

Below are two composers whose legacies WCF has identified for support. Project developments will be announced shortly.

Composer and pianist Gregory Short (1938-1998) was born in Toppenish, Washington, and was exposed at an early age to the music and dance of the Yakima Nation. He attended Juilliard, and the University of Washington, and received a DMA at the University of Oregon. Native American figures and the Northwest landcape were important influences on his music. Short composed nine piano sonatas, three symphonies, over a dozen symphonic poems, four song cycles, and countless chamber works. more

Thomas Peterson (1931-2005) was born in Seattle. He studied at the Mozarteum and Vienna Academy and received degrees in composition and musicology from the University of Washington. Peterson taught at Seattle University and Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. He received a NEA Fellowship in 1979. Peterson was influenced by Schoenberg, and also Carl Ruggles, on whom he wrote his dissertation. His music maintains an emphasis on counterpoint, and some works include a systematic use of quarter tones. A trombonist, Peterson wrote songs, music for brass, a string quartet and woodwind quartet, a major work for solo trumpet with a version for trombone, and a symphony. At the end of his life, Peterson was writing an opera based on the satirical novel The Good Soldier Schweik. WCF maintains an archive of scores and recordings of his music.