The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was Keep. Rlevse 01:14, 19 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The awards might do it for me, although I'm not an expert either by any means. Notability still needs to be asserted. --Evb-wiki 20:19, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Speedy delete - Per above. Shabda 16:45, 12 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Keep: The article doesn't express notability well, but a search finds it. He is now at Peabody, one of the top 10 conservatories in the country. Peabody does not have titles or tenure so it's hard to apply the "tenured professor at top institute" test, but I think he'd pass or at lease be very close. Add his American Academy of Arts and Letters prize, his Guggenheim, and his Rome Prize. Talking about grabbing him for a guest residency, one conductor wrote, "It’s a pretty big coup. Kevin is an internationally recognized composer and someone who’s gaining more and more in prominence," [1]. He's having Cello Concertos premiered by Yo-Yo Ma. All in all extremely far from Speedy for anyone taking the time to even Google the name. -- Myke Cuthbert(talk) 03:37, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Though that's certainly nothing to turn up one's nose at, it is still a press release promoting his appearance and perhaps not the best source of verifiable information. I checked Google news, and I found incidental mention of his music, but nothing indicating substantial coverage. Do you have any other, more neutral sources to establish notability? (I can't comment on the awards' ability to establish notability, since it's out of my area of expertise). Eliz81(talk)(contribs) 18:53, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: In the world of academic composition, those prizes certainly put one on the map pretty clearly. I know that when I taught at Mt. Holyoke, that their profs had won the Guggenheim and Rome Prize were listed prominently in promotional materials (ForExample). I won't squawk too much about the notability of the Rome Prize since it's a conflict of interest (I know from experience that sometimes non-notable people have gotten them), but I'll assert that it is generally considered a major accomplishment esp. in the visual arts and music composition and often winners are about 10 years away from being big names (1991: Lee Hyla, David Lang (composer); 1992: Stephen Hartke, Bun-Ching Lam; 1993: no prize; 1994: Sebastian Currier). I dunno, what prizes in composition would assert notability? A Grawemeyer? It's hard to say to people outside the world of academic music what's important or not. (Re: DGG's comments: I agree about the tenured prof. @ top institute test is not enough by itself, but as you've noted it's usually a clue to dig deeper. I'm just reporting what two minutes on Google found.) Also add Meet the Composer commission with the New World Symphony. Here's Eastman's website: "For several years, Kevin Puts (BM ’94, DMA ’99) received reviews describing him as a “promising composer” and “a young composer to watch.” But with a flurry of recent performances and prestigious commissions, Puts can now be described as one of America’s most important composers, period." Granted, Eastman has a vested interest in promoting their own, but that they've chosen to promote him (when they graduate many many composers) is important. (I'm not saying Strong keep, only because, I'll admit, the article isn't well written and doesn't assert notability. If it survives AfD, I'll work on it a bit, adding what I've found above). -- Myke Cuthbert(talk) 03:10, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Keep on the basis of what Myke found. But I am not sure about the tenured professor at top institute test by iteself--we've been using it as a preliminary indication that there will be something there, not as a definitive judgment. DGG (talk) 04:47, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Regular at the Cabrillo Music Festival; composer-in-residence with the Fort Worth Symphony; received a commission from the Aspen Music Festival, no less, to write a cello concerto for Yo-Yo Ma. This easily gets him over our notability bar. Thanks, Antandrus (talk) 21:49, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.