Amy Scurria (born September 24, 1973) is an American composer.

Biography

Amy Scurria was born into a military family and showed an early interest in music, memorizing the piano assignments of her sister Jackie. At age 11 she took lessons under the

Suzuki method The Suzuki method is a mid-20th-century music curriculum and teaching method created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki. The method claims to create a reinforcing environment for learning music for young learners. Backgroun ...

and began composing. Scurria graduated from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in composition. In 1998, she received a master's degree in composition from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. She completed her doctoral degree in 2015 from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. Dr. Scurria has also studied at La Schola Cantorum in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Teachers she studied with include: Chen Yi, Robert Sirota, Narcis Bonet,

Anthony Kelley Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants ...

, and

Stephen Jaffe Stephen Jaffe (born December 30, 1954, in Washington, D.C.newsobserver.com
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. Her compositions have been performed in the United States, England, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, France, and Japan. She was a composer-in-residence at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, in 2001.

Personal life

In 2004, Amy Scurria married Zane Corriher. They have a daughter, Lily, who is also a composer.

Honors and awards

* Duke University Evan Frankel Fellowship Recipient * Duke University Aleane Webb Dissertation Research Award * Duke University Summer Research Fellowship Recipient * 1991 Northern Virginia Composition Competition * 1998 Haddonfeld Young Composers' Competition * ASCAP Award Recipient, 1999–present * Winner of Haddonfield Young Composers Competition for ''Beyond All Walking'', 1998 * Music highlighted at National Convention for Women in the Arts, Rice University, 1996 * Winner of N. VA Composition Competition, 1990 * Superior rating in National and State Piano Guild, 1988–91

Works

Selected works include: * ''Beyond All Walking'' for Full Orchestra, (1998) * ''A Prayer'' for SATB Choir, (1999) * ''And He Shall Be Like a Tree'' for SATB Choir and Organ/Piano, (2000) * ''We Are Met at Gettysburg'' for full orchestra (2003) with Steve Heitzeg * ''Adaptations'' (2007) * ''La Loba'' (2008) * ''Tiamat'' (2008) * ''Something Borrowed, Something Blue'' (2008) * ''What the Soul Remembers'' (2009) * ''Esperanza Rising'' (2009) * ''Pearl: An Opera in Two Acts'' (2015)

References

External links

Amy Scurria's Official WebsiteAmy Scurria's page at Theodore Presser CompanyAmy Scurria's ''Wilson's Aria 2'' from YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scurria, Amy 1973 births Living people 20th-century American classical composers American women classical composers American music educators American women music educators Rice University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Duke University alumni 20th-century American women composers 21st-century American classical composers 21st-century American women composers Shepherd University faculty