CCM Professor Michael Fiday receives prestigious award in music composition

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music is pleased to congratulate Professor of Composition Michael Fiday on his receipt of the prestigious 2024 Arts and Letters Award in Music. One of only 4 awardees from across the nation, this illustrious recognition includes a cash award as well as an additional grant towards the recording of the recipient's work. 

Fiday, who began his tenure at CCM in 2002, boasts an impressive composition career, and has received numerous awards for his work. He has been recognized by such renowned organizations as the Fromm Foundation, the Barlow Foundation, BMI, ASCAP, American Composers Forum, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Headlands Center for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council, among others.  

Speaking with Movers & Makers Cincinnati about this award, Fiday said that “it’s the kind of thing I’ve seen other composers with notable careers in my field receive over the years, so it’s a very meaningful experience to find myself to be part of that illustrious group of artists.” Making this recognition even more meaningful is the fact that recipients cannot apply for it themselves, but rather must be nominated by someone else from within their discipline.

“I am both honored and humbled,” Fiday said in his Movers & Makers interview, and “totally stoked” for the award ceremony in New York City this spring. In addition to receiving the award and grant for recording, works by the four recipients will be featured in a concert in spring 2025 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters library in New York.

Fiday sits as part of CCM’s luminary composition faculty, a group made up of some of the brightest scholars and artists the composition world has to offer. Students work closely with these acclaimed educators and get exclusive access to plentiful professional level resume-building opportunities throughout CCM. Composition students at CCM have long been recognized for their impressive talents, with CCM alumni receiving fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy in Rome and recent awards from the American Prize.

CCM's curriculum includes classes in acoustic composition such as advanced orchestration, composer/performer workshop, special topics in composition, writing for voice, etc., as well as those in music technology such as intro to electronic music and electronic music techniques, music programming, timbre studies, and multimedia composition and improvisation. This well-rounded curriculum provides the perfect environment for the next generation of composers to develop their skills. Learn more about studying Music Composition at CCM.