Ken LaFave composes music and writes about the arts. His latest compositions include Canto de Alba, a concerto for world percussion, premiered in spring, 2008, by percussionist Maria Flurry and the Musica Nova Orchestra of Phoenix; Gateways, a concerto for electric guitar and symphonic band, commissioned by Arizona State University and premiered in 2005; and the full-length, one-act opera, American Gothic, commissioned by a consortium of private donors and premiered in 2006. LaFave is also the composer and co-lyricist of the score to Diet! The Musical, produced in Scottsdale in 2007.
LaFave maintains a second career as arts journalist and program annotator. He was music and dance critic for The Arizona Republic (1994-2005) and The Kansas City Star (1987-1990). His notes on classical music have appeared in the program booklets of The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Juilliard School, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, The Phoenix Symphony, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Aspen Music Festival, the Tanglewood Music Festival, and many others. For a sample visit classical-programnotes.com.
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LaFave on the Arts 