Stoeger Prize
Chris Rogerson is the 2022 recipient of the Elise L. Stoeger Prize
The Stoeger Prize for composers of chamber music was established by a generous gift from Milan Stoeger as a memorial to his wife, Elise, and in gratitude for the music that had been one of the principal joys of their lives. The Prize is awarded in recognition of achievement in the field of chamber music composition rather than for a specific work.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s 2022 Elise L. Stoeger Prize has been awarded to American composer Chris Rogerson. The Stoeger Prize, a $25,000 cash award and the largest of its kind, is given every two years in recognition of significant contributions to the field of chamber music composition.
We are personally delighted that this year’s Stoeger jury has selected Chris Rogerson as the 2022 recipient of the prize. Chris’s music embodies all that we look for in the works of today’s chamber music composers: genuine inspiration; knowledgeable and skillful instrumental writing; a combination of immediate appeal and intriguing challenge which invites further hearings; and very importantly, a true sense of the very nature of chamber music as an art form of dialogue between equals. In addition, Chris has proven to be very much a ‘performer’s composer’ in that so many fine players have asked for works from him. Their advocacy and passion, combined with new music of real quality, is what truly drives our art form forward.
I am truly honored to receive the Stoeger Prize. Many of the past winners of this award are my musical heroes (and former teachers!) and I am so moved to be included among them. In many ways I have poured much of my musical energy into chamber music, and to have CMS, an organization I so deeply respect and admire, recognize me in this way is beyond meaningful—and it motivates me to continue to create.
About Chris Rogerson
Hailed as a “confident new musical voice” (The New York Times), a “big discovery” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), and a “fully-grown composing talent” (The Washington Post), Chris Rogerson’s music has been praised for its “haunting beauty” and “virtuosic exuberance” (The New York Times). Rogerson’s music is often characterized by its lyricism: recent notable works include Of Simple Grace, for cellist Yo-Yo Ma, his violin concerto, for Benjamin Beilman and the Kansas City Symphony, and Dream Sequence, for Anne-Marie McDermott and the Dover Quartet. Rogerson’s music has been programmed at venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall in London, Prague’s Rudolfinum, Radio France, and the Musikverein in Vienna.
An avid traveler who has visited over 90 countries around the world, Rogerson's work is frequently evocative of a sense of place: Four Autumn Landscapes, a clarinet concerto written for Anthony McGill, is a portrait of his childhood home in Buffalo, New York; String Quartet No. 4, commissioned for the Escher Quartet, draws from his experience in a remote corner of Afghanistan; and his piano concerto, Samaa', commissioned by Bravo! Vail for Anne-Marie McDermott and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, is inspired by a recent trip to Yemen.
Rogerson also regularly collaborates with artists in other disciplines: recent examples include Sacred Earth, for mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges with video by Emmy-nominated director and National Geographic photographer Keith Ladzinski, and Azaan, a play written for the Oregon Symphony in collaboration with Dipika Guha. His work has been featured in a variety of mediums from comedian Joe Pera’s web series “How to Make It in USA” to ballet by choreographer Claudia Schreier.
Other recent commissions and performances have come from the Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New Jersey, New World, and San Francisco symphonies, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. This season, Mr. Rogerson also continues as Composer-in-Residence of the Allentown Symphony, which premieres a new orchestral work, as well as Artistic Advisor of the Amarillo Symphony.
Born in 1988, Mr. Rogerson studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale School of Music, and Princeton University with Jennifer Higdon, Aaron Jay Kernis, Martin Bresnick, and Steve Mackey. He is represented by Young Concert Artists, Inc. and served as YCA Composer-in-Residence from 2010-2012. He also is one of two composers on the roster of Manhattan Chamber Players. In 2012, he co-founded Kettle Corn New Music, a new music presenting organization in New York City, and currently serves as its co-artistic director. In 2016, Mr. Rogerson joined the Musical Studies Faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he lives full-time.
Watch and listen to Chris Rogerson's compositions:
Past Recipients
The Stoeger Prize for composers of chamber music was established by a generous gift from Milan Stoeger as a memorial to his wife, Elise, and in gratitude for the music that had been one of the principal joys of their lives. The Prize is awarded in recognition of achievement in the field of chamber music composition rather than for a specific work.
Previous winners of the Elise L. Stoeger Prize
1987 - Gunther Schuller
1990 - Oliver Knussen
1992 - Lee Hyla and Olly Wilson
1993 - Aaron Jay Kernis and Nicholas Maw
1994 - Oleg Felzer and Richard Wilson
1995 - David Liptak and Steven Mackey
1996 - Martin Bresnick and Osvaldo Golijov
1997 - Stephen Hartke and Judith Weir
1998 - Thomas Ades and Yehudi Wyner
1999 - James Primosch and Scott Wheeler
2000 - Michael Daugherty and Kaija Saariaho
2002 - Chen Yi
2004 - David Rakowski
2006 - Pierre Jalbert
2008 - Jörg Widmann
2010 - Brett Dean
2012 - Zhou Long
2014 - Thomas Larcher
2016 - Huw Watkins
2018 - Marc-André Dalbavie
2020 - David Ludwig
From the guidelines for the award, the intentions of the donor indicate that the Prize will help sustain a composer for creative work that he/she might not otherwise be able to accomplish without such economic help.