UA composer Daniel McCarthy places second in Doc Severinsen contest

University of Akron music professor and composer Daniel McCarthy is one of three composers to win the 2013 Doc Severinsen International Composition Contest.

As the second place winner, McCarthy will receive $5,000 for his "The Tao of Infinity," scored for solo trumpet and symphony orchestra. McCarthy is professor and chair of the Composition and Theory Section at the School of Music.

The competition is named after famous jazz trumpeter Doc Severinsen, the longtime bandleader of "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and a Grammy Award winner. Severinsen chose the winning compositions, noting that McCarthy's "Tao" was a close second. "It had great melodies," observed Severinsen. "I loved the material."

Severinsen will be in the audience when the three winning compositions are premiered Feb. 14, at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UT) during the joint regional conference of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction and the southern and mid-Atlantic chapters of the College Music Society. The UT Symphony Orchestra and the UT Wind Ensemble will perform along with guest soloists.

To learn more about the contest, visit Doc Severinsen International Composition Contest.

For more information about UA's music programs, visit the School of Music.

Media contact: Cyndee Snider, 330-972-5196 or cyndee@uakron.edu.