My name is Alex Corley. I'm a cellist and composer from Fairfax, Virginia, and am currently studying music composition at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.
I began playing cello at age nine. By the time I got to high school, I was playing in my school's symphonic orchestra. I've performed works such as Beethoven's seventh symphony, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and Holst's The Planets. In my junior year, I had the incredible opportunity to play as principal cellist with the Capital Symphonic Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. It's a moment in my life that I will never forget. At Shenandoah University, I've performed works such as Elgar's Enigma Variations, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.
I began experimenting with composing around my freshmen year of high school, and really fell in love with it. I've had many of my works performed by my friends and colleagues, and in 2019 my symphonic piece The American Revolution was premiered by my high school's orchestra to a thunderous applause. There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not thinking about playing, writing or listening to music. It's been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. No matter what happens in life, I will always have time to make music.
Some of my favorite musicians include Dmitri Shostakovich (the GOAT), Ottorino Respighi, Gustav Mahler, George Gershwin, John Williams, Sam Spence, Steely Dan, Marty Robbins, Hawaii Samurai and Dick Dale. In my spare time, I play video games (my favorites are Smash and Mario Kart), work out, and I like football (HTTR!).
Visit Alex Corley's Music Vault to learn more.
The William Averitt Prize for Excellence in Composition is awarded each year to an outstanding undergraduate student in the composition program at Shenandoah Conservatory. Named in honor of Professor Emeritus William Averitt, one of the founders of the program in composition at Shenandoah, this award recognizes outstanding talent in composition at Shenandoah Conservatory. All works submitted for composition juries throughout each academic year are eligible, and will be judged based on
Faculty review all of the year’s jury scores and submitted works, and select single composer/work, by consensus, to be awarded the prize. The award is officially announced at the annual end-of-year Shenandoah Conservatory Honors Recital. Winners receive a certificate of achievement and a performance of the winning work by a Shenandoah Conservatory ensemble.
Visit su.edu to learn more the award and previous award recipients.