Santa Cruz County 2011 Artist of the Year

Phil Collins
The Artist of the Year award is presented for outstanding achievement in the discipline of performing, visual, or literary arts. Nominees must be a resident of Santa Cruz County, must have a national or international reputation, must have contributed to the cultural enrichment of the local community, and must have created or presented work in Santa Cruz County.

A FREE Profile Performance celebrating the 2011 Artist of the Year, Phil Collins, will be held at the Cabrillo College Recital Hall on Friday, July 15 at 7:00 p.m.   A number of local and Bay Area musicians will join Collins to perform a variety of his works, including "Seven Haiku," "Tonight, I Watched," "Continuation" and "Stream." Featured soloists include renowned Palo Alto pianist Sandra Gu, performing Collins' recently completed "Springing," as well as San Francisco countertenor Jesse Buddington, who will reprise Collins’ "Trojan Slave Aria" from "Orestes, Terrorist," which ran for two weeks in May at UCSC. Advance reservations are not required; seating is provided on a first-come, first-served basis the night of the event.  Click here to download the program.

Phil Collins co-founded New Music Works (NMW) in 1979 and has served as the organization’s Artistic Director and Conductor since 1982. In this capacity he has brought national acclaim to the organization through the cultivation of collaborative relationships between NMW and leading musicians from throughout the world. He has been featured as Artist-in-Residence at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the IDRIART Festival, the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and at Vassar College . His orchestral and chamber works have been played throughout the U.S. , Canada , and abroad.

Collins has also composed and conducted musicals and stage productions for numerous theatre companies and colleges, including Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Hanuman Productions, Vassar College, UCSC, Cabrillo College, Western Stage, Tandy Beal Company, and others.  Collins' score for Euripides' Orestes, Terrorist, (which ran May 19-28 at the UCSC Main Stage Theatre) received high acclaim, and he is currently at work on a score for choir and NMW Ensemble to accompany Fritz Lang's monumental silent film, "Metropolis," which will premiere October 28 & 29, at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz.

Awards include: First Prize (Air), 1996 International Clarinet Society Composition Competition; First Prize (Sappho Songs), 1994 L’ARCIM Festival in Montreal ; The Gail Rich Award; and Dramalogue Award for Best Musical Direction. In addition to his annual talks at Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Collins has also lectured for the American Composers Forum, San Francisco Conservatory of Music and De Anza College, to name a few.  In 2007 he was a featured lecturer at the Asian Composers League in New Zealand . He has served as a juror in numerous composition and instrumental competitions.

In addition to his direction of New Music Works, Collins currently teaches at: Hartnell College - Ethnic Music in the U.S. , Classical Guitar; Gavilan College - Music Theory, Musicianship and World Music; and Cabrillo College - Music Lab Technician.   Collins is the County’s 25th artist to be so honored. He joins the distinguished list which includes actor Paul Whitworth; photographer Frans Lanting; poets Morton Marcus, Adrienne Rich and William Everson; dancer Tandy Beal; composers Lou Harrison and George Barati; writers Jim Houston and Laurie R. King; visual artists Manuel Santana, Richard Deutsch, Karen Thuesen Massaro, Lynda Watson, Chuck Hilger, Doug McClellan, Jack Zajac and Carol Summers; musicians Linda Burman-Hall, Jessica Williams, and "Sista" Monica Parker; the Cabrillo Music Festival; choreographer Robert Kelley, and the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County.

Nominations for Artist of the Year

People seeking more information or who wish to nominate someone for Artist of the Year my download a nomination form, or call Santa Cruz County Parks Department at (831) 454-7901 to request a form by mail or fax.  Nominated artists must provide submission information and can download the form here.  The Artist of the Year program is sponsored by the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission and the County of Santa Cruz Department of Public Works - Parks, Open Space and Cultural Services.