Frank La Rocca


Frank La Rocca is an American classical music composer.

Life

Frank La Rocca was born in 1951 in New Jersey. He studied at Yale and at the University of California at Berkeley. His early musical experiences ranged from classical piano to playing electronic keyboards in various rock and blues bands. He began composing at age 14. His teachers included Edwin Dugger, Olly Wilson, Andrew Imbrie, Jonathan Kramer, Frank Lewin and John Mauceri. He has received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council, and a Young Composers Award from ASCAP. He was a 2018 American Prize winner for the oratorio, "A Rose in Winter – the life of St. Rita of Cascia".
Trained as an academic modernist during his degree studies at Yale and University of California, Berkeley, La Rocca came to see this approach as a barrier to authentic musical expression, and spent many years in search of a personal creative language.
A composer of works for both the concert stage and liturgy, one finds considerable common ground between these two in works like Veni Sancte Spiritus, for soprano, clarinet and baroque string quartet. La Rocca has said he approaches his work in sacred choral music as "a kind of Missionary work" and regards himself in that role "as an apologist for a distinctively Christian faith – not through doctrinal argument, but through the beauty of music". He was named Composer-in-Residence at the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Liturgy in 2018.
La Rocca has been awarded several times for outstanding achievements as a professor of music California State University, East Bay.
La Rocca's music has been performed in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Uganda. Performers include the California Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Lumen Valo, soprano Christine Brandes, Strata, Artists Vocal Ensemble, Schola Cantorum of the London Oratory School, Young Women's Chorus of San Francisco, Cathedral Choral Society, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Prague Radio – Choir and Orchestra, Alexander String Quartet and others. His music is published by Boosey & Hawkes, Walton Music, Santa Barbara Music Publishers and Lumen Verum Music.
He is recorded on Enharmonic Records, CRI, CRS, SCI, and ERM Media.
Frank La Rocca taught music theory and composition at California State University, East Bay from 1981–2014.

Choral works

†recorded on Enharmonic CD 12-025 "IN THIS PLACE"

Liturgical Works

†recorded on Enharmonic CD 12-025 "IN THIS PLACE"
Recorded on CRI SD 567
Recorded on CRS 8944.
Recorded on CRI SD 567