Music’s Anna Weesner and Andrew McPherson Win American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards
April 2008
Anna Weesner, associate professor and undergraduate chair in the Department of Music, and Andrew McPherson, graduate student in composition, both won awards in music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Weesner received one of four Academy Awards, which honor outstanding artistic achievement and “acknowledges the composer who has arrived at his or her own voice.” McPherson received a Charles Ives Scholarship, given to composition students that show great promise.
Founded in 1898, The American Academy of Arts and Letters is an honor society of 250 architects, composers, artists, and writers. Its purpose is to foster and sustain an interest in literature, music, and the fine arts by identifying and encouraging individual artists. The Academy administers awards and prizes, exhibits art and manuscripts, funds stage readings and performances of new works, and purchases works of art to be donated to museums.