Edward Strauman, Ph.D., associate professor of music, won third prize in the 2014 Sofia International Composition Competition in Bulgaria for his work “The Musical Voices of St. Mark Basilica.” The competition is an annual event which is open to participants in all countries throughout the world.

“I took for my inspiration the Basilica of Saint Mark in Venice, Italy. The composition, Voces Musicales di San Marco, is a seven-movement suite, which attempts to capture the experience one may have from the entrance of the square throughout viewing the mosaics of the Basilica. Individual titles of movements are named for the various instrumental works prominent during the Italian Renaissance,” said Strauman.

This is Strauman’s first time entering the competition and each year the Sofia International Group changes the competition criteria according to the standards set forth by the adjudicating committee.

Strauman teaches classes in music theory, jazz improvisation, orchestration, film music, and Broadway musicals and specializes in music composition, theory and analysis. He has won awards from organizations that include the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National Endowment, the Eubie and Marion Blake Scholar and the Roger Phelps Award for an Outstanding Dissertation.