KEVIN PUTS Arcana
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Born 1972 in St . Louis , MO
• Born in St . Louis , Kevin Puts earned his bachelor ’ s and doctorate degrees from the Eastman School of Music and a master ’ s degree from Yale University .
• He taught for a time at The University of Texas at Austin and , since 2006 , has been a member the composition faculty at Baltimore ’ s own Peabody Institute .
• Puts has been hailed as one of the most important composers of his generation and in 2012 was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his first opera , Silent Night .
THE WORLD AT A GLANCE
2008
MUSIC Rihanna ’ s “ Don ’ t Stop the Music ”
LITERATURE Aravind Adiga ’ s The White Tiger
ABOUT THE PIECE
• Arcana , written in 2008 , was commissioned by the string sextet Concertante as a feature for one of the group ’ s cellists .
• The piece is inspired by the arcane sights observed from the Haleakala volcano in Maui . The sunrise from this spot was once described by Mark Twain as one of the most sublime spectacles of his life .
FILM Twilight
ART Amy Sherald ’ s Pony Boy
HISTORY Barack Obama is elected president
26 BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA