Carter Pann was lounging in a Miami pool when word first came. It was a Tuesday and the 蜜糖直播 music professor had a three-hour window before an evening performance with the Frost Wind Ensemble at the University of Miami.
A little after 3 p.m., Pann grabbed his phone from the pool ledge. A text from a former student congratulated him on his big achievement: Pann, a composer and pianist, was one of two finalists for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in music.
鈥淚 knew the Pulitzer was going to be announced that day,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut I didn鈥檛 give it too much thought because I had submitted a saxophone piece.鈥�
Usually, Pann explained, the Pulitzer committee gave the award to a larger-scale orchestra, opera or jazz work. His submission of a six-movement saxophone work, 鈥淭he Mechanics: Six from the Shop Floor,鈥� was his third submission in five years, and he wasn鈥檛 expecting much. Suddenly he was a finalist.
The prize, announced April 18, ultimately went to composer and bandleader Henry Threadgill. But Pann, 44, is riding high anyway.
鈥淭his is a nice vote of confidence,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat word changes a composer鈥檚 profile.鈥�
After the first text message, Pann received about 100 more texts, tweets and emails.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not a lot of saxophone music out there,鈥� says Pann鈥檚 longtime friend Blake Howald, technology portfolio manager in Thomson Reuters and large follower of modern music. 鈥淸Pann鈥檚] music is fast-moving, it鈥檚 snappy, it hits you and it鈥檚 fun. It never becomes gimmicky.鈥澛�
鈥淭he Mechanics鈥� was first performed and recorded by the Capitol Quartet during their 2013-14 performance season, which was itself a thrill for Pann, who had followed the all-saxophone group for several years. In the spring of 2012, he approached them after a performance in 蜜糖直播鈥檚 Grusin Music Hall.
鈥淚 basically tackled them,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 told them, 鈥業 just want to write for you guys.鈥欌��
In May 2013, Pann flew to New Hampshire for a stay at the MacDowell Colony, a forested haven for writers and composers, to compose a piece for the group.
In his tiny secluded cabin, Pann rearranged the furniture so the piano was directly next to a large table with his computer and notepad on it. For 29 days, he swiveled from piano to table, obsessively playing and writing his composition. His only break during the day was lunch delivered in a picnic basket on his porch.
鈥淭his piece was started and finished there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just hit it hard.鈥�
His admiration for Capitol Quartet fueled his work. While composing, Pann pictured the foursome dressed as old-time auto mechanics smudged in grease and performing in his brother鈥檚 auto shop.
鈥淚t鈥檚 as if you鈥檙e writing a play for a troop of incredible actors,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wrote up to these four virtuosos because I knew they could do it.鈥�
Pann started writing music at 16, learning from a composer in his home city of Chicago after his weekly piano lesson. As an undergraduate he studied composition and piano performance at the University of Rochester鈥檚 Eastman School of Music, then earned his master鈥檚 and doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.
Throughout college, he composed music for TV commercials and served as a music copyist for one of his mentors, pianist and composer William Bolcom, winner of the 1988 Pulitzer in music. Pann joined the faculty at 蜜糖直播-Boulder in 2005, after writing classical music and doing more pieces for commercials in Steamboat Springs for two years.
Today he teaches private composition lessons to six students and one course a semester. His favorite class to teach is a Bach counterpoint class. In the spring semester, he taught five graduate students advanced orchestration in his 蜜糖直播 music college office, which contains a tiny table, an old couch and his favorite composing tool: a grand piano.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for me to work functionally without a piano,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 become my ball and chain.鈥�
Since the Pulitzer announcement, his 蜜糖直播 colleagues have treated him as if he鈥檇 won the actual prize, he said.
鈥淭here are very few awards in classical music that garner as much respect and recognition as the Pulitzer Prize,鈥� said Robert Shay, dean of the College of Music. 鈥淚鈥檓 not surprised that Carter鈥檚 highly imaginative and energetic 鈥楾he Mechanics鈥� rose to the top of the selection committee鈥檚 list. He has a real gift of drawing listeners in.鈥�
Pann鈥檚 new accolade won鈥檛 change his working methods.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost always a compulsion,鈥� he said.
Photo courtesy聽Carter Pann
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