Shenandoah Conservatory's Director of Composition and Coordinator of New Music David T. Little, Ph.D., recently signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Boosey & Hawkes, one of the world's leading classical music publishing companies.

He is now listed on the same roster of classical composers as Bernstein, Stravinsky, Bartók, Andriessen, Mackey, Monk and more. Little's complete collection of works is now available through Boosey & Hawkes.

"I'm extraordinarily proud of David's work," said Shenandoah Conservatory Dean Michael Stepniak, Ed.D., "not only with our students and in our community in his capacity as director of composition and coordinator of new music, but in his creative work as one of this country's most skilled and visionary new composers."

Little spearheaded Shenandoah Conservatory's newest series, Shenandoah New Music. The initiative brings the best artists from the world of contemporary art music to Winchester, Virginia.

Expanding the Capital Region's already-vibrant new music throughout northern Virginia, Shenandoah New Music features approximately 30 performances annually in five venues, featuring guest artists ranging from new music legends to young guns, and including regular performances by the EDGE Ensemble.

Since its launch in 2012, Shenandoah New Music has hosted some of today's leading and innovative composers, including Louis Andriessen, Ken Thomson, Todd Reynolds, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Kevin Puts and Jennifer Higdon (later this season).

David T. Little is "one of the most imaginative young composers" on the scene (The New Yorker) with "a knack for overturning musical conventions" (The New York Times). His "sharp, elegantly bristling" music (New York magazine) is potent and dramatic, drawing as much upon his experience as a punk/metal drummer as his classical pedigree. In his work he often undertakes political and existential themes, most recently gaining attention for success writing for larger forces.

The Wall Street Journal called Little's first full-length opera "Dog Days," "one of the most exciting new operas of recent years," and The New York Times cited it as one of two highlights of the season, stating that the work "proved beyond any doubt that opera has both a relevant present and a bright future."

John Rockwell, writing for Opera magazine wrote, "This is [Little's] first full-length opera; it will not be his last." Fort Worth Opera and Los Angeles Opera will present "Dog Days" in 2015.

Likewise, Little's multi-media music theatre work, "Soldier Songs," based on interviews with veterans of five wars, received its New York City premiere on the inaugural PROTOTYPE Festival and was later presented by the Holland Festival. George Loomis, for Musical America, said, "[Little] has earned acclaim for the imaginative way he draws on his varied musical interests to produce arresting and coherent works."

Several of David's works are currently on tour. A recording of "Haunt of Last Nightfall" was released last season on the bustling independent classical label, New Amsterdam Records, with a tour by Chicago's Third Coast Percussion. As part of its 40th anniversary season, Kronos Quartet commissioned and premiered "AGENCY," and is planning tours in upcoming seasons. Meanwhile "cello goddess" Maya Beiser commissioned "Hellhound" for her "All Vows" and "Uncovered" tours.

Little was mostly recently awarded a commission from The Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater as part of their new works program.

Little's music has been performed throughout the world. He holds degrees from Susquehanna University (2001) and The University of Michigan (2002) and earned his doctorate from Princeton University (2011), where his research explored the intersection of music and politics.

He has taught music in New York City schools and shelters through Carnegie Hall's Musical Connections program, served as the inaugural digital composer-in-residence for the UK-based DilettanteMusic.com. He is a founder of the New Music Bake Sale, fostering contemporary classical community annually in Brooklyn. From 2010-2012, he served as the executive director of New York's MATA Festival.

Since 2012, he has served as the director of composition and coordinator of new music at Shenandoah Conservatory, and he is currently composer-in-residence with Opera Philadelphia.

For more information, please visit. http://davidtlittle.com/