Installation View, Horizon Line: 205 Years of American Landscape (February 28, 2026 - August 30, 2026), Blowing Rock Art & History Museum. Photo: Josh White

This program is presented free to the public through the generosity of the Bryant and Nancy Hanley Foundation.

About the Program

Composer Roger Zare responds to the Horizon Line exhibition with a concert of his original compositions. Zare will be joined by musicians from the Hayes School of Music and clarinetist Lucas Gianini, who will perform works inspired by landscapes near and far.

About the Composer

Roger Zare has been praised for his “enviable grasp of orchestration” (New York Times) and for writing music with “formal clarity and an alluringly mercurial surface.” Often inspired by science, nature, and mythology, his works use sonic experimentation and a keen sense of narrative impetus to create a visceral energy. Zare’s compositions have been performed across the United States and on six continents by such musicians and ensembles as the American Composers Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Sarasota Orchestra, the Akropolis Reed Quintet, the Sinta Quartet, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, and clarinetists Alexander Fiterstein and Andy Hudson. Zare has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP, BMI, the New York Youth Symphony, Copland House, and many others. He has served as composer-in-residence at Fermilab, the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, the Salt Bay Chamber Music Festival, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington and the SONAR new music ensemble. Zare holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the Peabody Conservatory, and the University of Southern California. His teachers include Bright Sheng, Michael Daugherty, Paul Schoenfield, Kristin Kuster, Christopher Theofanidis, Derek Bermel, and Morten Lauridsen. Zare currently serves as Assistant Professor of music at Appalachian State University.