CSU School of Music Professor Receives High Praise

After many years of work, Cleveland State University School of Music professor Andrew Rindfleisch has reached the pinnacle.

Rindfleisch was named a runner-up in the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his work “American Descent,” a 30-minute, five-movement piece scored for a 13-player sinfonietta that he completed last semester.

“It's always nice when some recognition comes to a composition one has worked on for so long, especially when that recognition comes from a storied institution like the Pulitzer Prize,” said Rindfleisch.  “But I have always preferred to ignore, as much as possible, both negative criticism and positive praise. It always seems that it is in the middle where I feel free to do anything I want musically.”

The Pulitzer Prize for Music does not disclose the number of nominated artists, but it is typically assumed that well over 100 composers are considered for the award each year.

Rindfleisch has had a dynamic and multifaceted career in music as a conductor, pianist, vocalist, improviser, record producer, radio host and educator, he has composed nearly 80 works for the concert hall, including solo, chamber, vocal, orchestral, brass, wind and choral music, with his entire catalog published by Manzo Music and his compositions featured on more than a dozen commercial recordings.

In addition to leading the music composition program at CSU, Rindfleisch has made guest conducting appearances across the United States and abroad with a wide range of musical organizations, including opera and musical theatre companies, orchestras, jazz groups, improvisational ensembles and contemporary avant-garde groups, and as a conductor and producer, he has dedicated his career to contemporary music, presenting more than 500 works by living composers over the past 30 years through performance and recording.

“Although music is my profession, it probably has always been more of an obsession,” said Rindfleisch. “Although I can’t stop thinking and reminiscing about music of the distant past, I also can’t stop envisioning and imagining a music of the future.”

Success is nothing new for Rindfleisch, who has been the recipient of many awards including the Rome Prize, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the Aaron Copland Award and a Koussevitzky Foundation Fellowship from the Library of Congress, along with more than 40 additional honors recognizing his work. He has participated in numerous major music festivals and held residency fellowships at institutions including the Bogliasco Foundation in Italy, the Czech-American Institute in Prague, the Charles Ives Center for American Music, the MacDowell Colony and the Pierre Boulez Conductor’s Workshop at Carnegie Hall. 

“Music festivals and residencies have always offered time and inspiration to the compositional process,” he said. “Time is perhaps the most valuable asset to a creative artist, while inspiration and the opportunity to think about music in different ways is always possible when mixing with artists from other disciplines, as is often the case during residencies, festivals and artist retreats.”

As for the future, there’s no slowing down. Rindfleisch said he has several projects in development, including new solo, chamber and choral works.

“I am now starting to spend more time studying and conceiving of a large-scale cantata scored for chorus, vocal soloists and orchestra, an extended work that would be dedicated to setting the words and poems of Emily Dickinson,” he said.