Marden Pond

Marden Pond (b. 1950), recipient of the 2014 Alfred Lambourne Prize, is active as a composer, arranger, conductor, producer, author, and educator. He has taught music for nearly four decades, including positions at Saddleback College, Orange Coast College, Pepperdine University, the College of Eastern Utah, Utah State University Extension, Brigham Young University, Arizona State University, the University of Northern Colorado, Granite & Salt Lake City School Districts, & Utah Valley University (where he received the 2011 Faculty Excellence Award). Dr. Pond holds advanced music degrees from the University of Northern Colorado and Arizona State University. He is the author of books and articles on music theory, digital & electronic music, music pedagogy, music education, jazz improvisation, music for theatrical dance, & music in the home. The composer of music on over twenty recorded albums, Dr. Pond has also created music for jazz ensembles, symphony orchestras, choirs, the ballet stage, film (including the Emmy Award-winning film, The Shadow Of Light from Milestone Productions), video productions, modern dance groups, & a wide variety of chamber, studio, commercial & recording ensembles, a substantial amount of innovative electronic music, commissioned arrangements, & even commercial jingles. Produced in collaboration with concert pianist, David Glen Hatch, the CD, Title of Liberty, was named the 2008 Pearl Award winner as "Classical Instrumental Album of the Year." He has conducted numerous musical ensembles -- professional, recording studio, community, educational. These include symphonic groups (orchestras, bands, etc.), chamber ensembles, jazz groups, choirs, theater orchestras, etc. He arranged and conducted music for a special performance in Arlington National Cemetery on the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

A prolific composer, Pond has over three hundred works listed in the ASCAP catalog, including jazz combo & big band compositions, historical works based on Americana, symphonies, cantatas, concert suites, commercial projects, and solo pieces. His works have been performed nationwide and recorded in Europe & the U.S. He has been named as Utah’s Composer of the Year & honored with awards and commissions from ASCAP, the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet-the-Composer (New York), Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, the National Pony Express Association, the Entrada Institute, several colleges and universities, the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission, and the Utah Governor’s Award for Contributions to International Understanding.

Marden Pond is noted as a unique composer, many of whose works provide a heroic and touching musical reflection of the American West. Note the following compositions that symbolically address the history, geography, and culture of Utah: Pioneer Sampler (an orchestral choral suite commissioned for the Utah Statehood Sesquicentennial Celebration), Fresh Courage Take (oratorio commissioned for the sesquicentennial remembrance of the Martin and Willie handcart companies), Windriders (commissioned for the national sesquicentennial celebration of the Pony Express), Echo Canyon Serenade (Symphony No. 2, commemorating the historical events surrounding the entry of Johnston’s Army into the territory of Deseret), Castle Valley Impressions (album commissioned to accompany scenic Southeastern Utah artwork by Brent Haddock), and Voices In the Wind (album/suite commissioned by the Entrada Institute to highlight the geographic and cultural treasures of the Colorado Plateau).

The Deseret News has called his music "electrifying" adding that Dr. Pond is an "artful and clever composer," and "a well-known composer with numerous commissioned works to his credit." Fanfare magazine notes that his compositions are "inventive and well-crafted." William Penn (CEO, producer, AUR Recordings/Publications) has exclaimed, "Hey, Marden Pond is a SUPER MAJOR TALENT -- WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The Herald praises his music as "masterful and intricate work."

For further information about Dr. Pond visit Linkedin.

(All music and photos, Copyright ©2014 by Marden Pond.)