Dr. Deon Nielsen Price, D.M.A. (B.A. Brigham Young University, M.M. University of Michigan, D.M.A. University of Southern California) is an award-winning composer, pianist, conductor, author, and advocate for new music. With principal mentors in composition, Leslie Bassett and Samuel Adler, her music is known for the deep humanitarian concern that permeates much of it. Her large works featuring string instruments are Angel Trio (violin/cello/piano), Crossroads Alley Trio (viola, clarinet, piano), Interruptions II (two pianos, violin), Quickening (quartet), States of Mind (string orchestra), Stile Antico (unaccompanied solo), Three Faces of Kim, the Napalm Girl (violin/piano), Two Songs for Voice and Viola (Walt Whitman), and Violin Concerto for Oneness.

Price has received commissions from the Barlow Endowment for Musical Composition; State Councils on the Arts in Alaska, California, Wyoming, and Iowa; Park City (UT) Dance; Malachim Films; Mu Phi Epsilon International Foundation; individual artists; and five commissions from the Brooklyn Metro Chamber Orchestra.  Her recordings on Cambria, TownHall, Tantara, and Albany labels include Arkiv Music Notable Releases. 

“Price’s music has real vitality…fascinating music” and “…no two works particularly resemble each other, although Price’s compositional fingerprints show up in all of them.” (Fanfare)  

“…pieces are quite charming and appealing, making use of mixed meter and taut rhythmical gaiety while in no way neglecting those things we like so much about music, such as melody.” (American Record Guide) 

“The energy and power of the opening told the audience that we were at “one” with the music.” (IAWM Journal) 

Books, recordings, videos, and sheet music for her 275-plus titles, listed in ASCAP, are available at culvercrest.com. Price is a retired college professor, President Emerita of the National Association of ComposersUSA and a former President of the International Alliance for Women in Music. After a 45-year residence in Culver City CA, she relocated to the Presidio of San Francisco for a few years. She continues to curate the Sunday Concerts for the Interfaith Center at the Presidio, although she now lives in her permanent residence in Arroyo Grande on the Central California Coast.

Albums

Bowed Colors 2

Release Date: April 14, 2023
Catalog Number: NV6517
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Viola
On BOWED COLORS 2, violist Brett Deubner tackles a vibrant collection of Bach-inspired compositions for the viola. A bonafide virtuoso of international acclaim, Deubner set his sights on the works of seven American composers, and the result is a dynamic album of showstoppers for the alto voice of the string family. Baroque structure unites with contemporary fervor in this program, and Deubner's solo viola (occasionally accompanied by piano) entwines both, brimming with vigor and precision.