Lesley Sommer

Senior Instructor, Theory

About

Doctorate of Music: Indiana University
Master of Music: Indiana University
Bachelor of Music: Indiana University

Composer Lesley Sommer was born in Eugene, OR, in 1967. She received her DM from Indiana University where her primary teachers were Frederick Fox and Eugene O'Brien. In 1997 she joined the faculty of Western, where she has also served as both department chair and associate dean. Sommer is currently an associate professor and coordinator of music theory. Her works have been performed at Midwest Composers Symposiums, Friends of Rain, the NOW Music Festival, the New Music and Art Festival at Bowling Green, MusicLink, the SEAMUS National Conference, the KEAMS Festival of Electro-Acoustic Music, Composers, Inc., SCI, and at concerts and readings sponsored by the American Composers Forum. Sommer has received awards and commissions from ASCAP, the Margaret Blackburn Composition Prize, and the Whatcom Symphony, among others. An avid gardener, Sommer sometimes creates her music through the subtle interlocking of diverse organic processes. Her most recent work for chamber ensemble and vocalist uses texts by Shakespeare and will be premiered in 2016.