eco-musician, composer, speaker, global traveler
About Glenn

About Glenn

Photo of Glenn McClure

Glenn McClure is a composer, speaker, and scholar. For over 20 years, Mr. McClure has dedicated himself to building artistic and academic collaborations between students, scientists, classical and indigenous musicians. Mr. McClure has taught at the Eastman School of Music and currently serves on the faculties of Paul Smiths College and SUNY Geneseo.

Mr. McClure has served as the Artist-in-Residence for the National Parks Arts Foundation at Hawaii Volcanos National Park where he worked with scientists to create a musical exploration of the volcanos. He was awarded the National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Fellowship. He traveled to Antarctica to compose music based upon the work of UCSD climate scientist Dr. Peter Bromirski. He has since received the National Science Foundation I-Corps Grant that is devoted to exploring innovative applications of his sonification algorithm in a variety of industries. He received the National Teaching Artist Fellowship (2008-9) by the Kennedy Center Office of Disability/VSA program that supports art making by adults and children with disabilities. Mr. McClure recently received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts/Opera Division in partnership with Mountain Lake PBS for his new voting rights opera, Promised Land: An Adirondack Folk Opera. He also received the Chancellor’s Award for Adjunct Teaching by the State University of New York, Obrien Award in Part-time Teaching (2014), and the Path Award for Promotion of Diversity (2013. He was granted the Lenna Visiting Professorship at St. Bonaventure University. Mr. McClure is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Continental Harmony Commission by the American Composers Forum. Mr. McClure’s acclaimed “Kyrie” from St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass has returned to Carnegie Hall for three performances as well as multiple performances at Lincoln Center.

Mr. McClure’s compositional work has driven partnerships between scientists and artists. He recently composed a work for choir and string quartet for the European Space Agency. He worked closely with scientists and mathematicians from the Rosetta Mission to transform orbital data into melodies and harmonies. His music has been featured on several national broadcasts including a 2006 edition of National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” This story explored his partnership with bestselling author Dava Sobel (Galileo’s Daughter, 1999) that resulted in The Starry Messenger: An Oratorio based on the Letters of Galileo’s Daughter for choir, lute, recorder and string quartet.

Furthermore, his “Santo” from St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass was featured in the 2005 broadcast of Enter the Light, the CBS Christmas Special. Mr. McClure’s musical setting of “Cantico di Frate Sole” is featured in Francis of Assisi, The Great Courses (www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/francis-of-assisi.html), with lectures by Dr. William Cook and Dr. Ronald Herzman.

Mr. McClure has composed two full length operas. The world Music opera, Imoinda,is based on the neo slave narrative libretto of scholar Joan Anim-Addo and Promised Land: An Adirondack Folk Opera. He has written two children’s operas, Mio Nonno Galileo (based on the life of Galileo’s grandson) and Maria’s Lessons (based on the work of Italian educational reformer Maria Montessori).

Mr. McClure’s work is published by Earthsongs (www.earthsongsmus.com) and Roger Dean Publishers (www.lorenz.com). His choral works, written for mixed choir, Treble Choir, Men’s Choir, children’s choir and orchestra use European and non-European languages including Vietnamese, Lakota, and Nahuatl.

He lives in upstate New York with his wife and children.

Glenn’s Curriculum Vitae (pdf)

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