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Augusta Read Thomas (born in 1964 in Glen Cove, New York) was the Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from May 1997 through June 2006. She was an assistant then associate professor of composition at the Eastman School of Music from 1993-2001, and from 2001 until 2006 was the Wyatt Professor of Music at Northwestern University. Having resigned from her endowed-chair teaching position starting in July 2006, she continues her involvement with Northwestern University by serving actively on the Dean’s Music Advisory Board. Presently, in 2007-2008, Thomas is a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Music in the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago. In 2007, her ASTRAL CANTICLE was one of the two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in Music.
G. Schirmer, Inc. is the exclusive publisher of Thomas’s music, and her discography includes 40 commercially recorded CDs. Please visit www.augustareadthomas.com for a complete list of the recordings.
Ms. Thomas studied composition with Oliver Knussen at Tanglewood (1986, 1987, 1989), Jacob Druckman at Yale University (1988), with Alan Stout and Bill Karlins at Northwestern University (1983-1987), and at the Royal Academy of Music in London (1989). She was a Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University (1991-94) and a Bunting Fellow at Radcliffe College (1990-91) – which is now, The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Augusta has remained in close contact with Oliver Knussen, over the past 22 years, and he has conducted many of her orchestral works. She is also in very close contact with her teacher Alan Stout, from 1983 until present day.
The American Academy of Arts And Letters has elected Augusta Read Thomas to membership. She will be inducted in May 2009. The American Academy of Arts and Letters is an honor society of 250 architects, composers, artists, and writers. The honor of election is considered the highest formal recognition of artistic merit in the United States.
Augusta Read Thomas is the Director of the Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood in 2009.
Ms. Thomas lives in, and divides her time between, Chicago, IL, and Becket, MA.
CONDUCTORS
Her music has been conducted by: Esa-Pekka Salonen, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Christoph Eschenbach, Jirí Belohlávek, Hans Graf, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, Marin Alsop, Lorin Maazel, Sir Andrew Davis, Andrey Boreyko, Mstislav Rostropovich, Oliver Knussen, William Wiedrich, Grant Llewellyn, Gil Rose, Gerard Schwarz, John Nelson, Hans Vonk, Markus Stenz, Jeffrey Kahane, Dennis Russell Davies, George Benjamin, Ludovic Morlot, Steven Jarvi, Jonathan Stockhammer, Albert-George Schram, Jack Delaney, Robert Katkov-Trevino, Hannu Lintu, Peter Lipari, Christopher Lyndon-Gee, Josephine Lee, Donald Hunsberger, Mark Laycock, Edwin Outwater, Cliff Colnot, Norman Scribner, Michael Lewanski, Kirill Karabits, Hyo Kang, Kevin Field, Apo Hsu, Mariusz Smolij, Jonathan Yates, Susan McMane, Bradley Lubman, George Manahan, Jahja Ling, David Loebel, Orcenith Smith, Lawrence Leighton Smith, Mallory Thompson, Toshiyuki Shimada, Manfred Honeck, Christian Arming, Morihiko Nakahara, Odaline de la Martinez, Christian Lindberg, Stuart Chafetz, Keith Lockhart, Alan Pierson, Rand Steiger, Jac Van Steen, Hugh Wolff, Gianpiero Taverna and David Gilbert.
CURRENT/UPCOMING COMPOSITIONS, RECENT PERFORMANCES & OTHER PAST WORKS
Upcoming projects include HELIOS CHOROS, a triptych for orchestra (2006-2007) (title translation: Sun God Dancers) with a duration of 45 minutes: HELIOS CHOROS I, commissioned by the Dallas Symphony, was composed in 2006 and is dedicated with admiration and gratitude to Sir Andrew Davis, Victor Marshall, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and was premiered on May 3, 4, 5, 6, 2007 by the Dallas Symphony, Sir Andrew Davis conducting; HELIOS CHOROS II, co-commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra, with the generous support of Mr. Martin Mellish, composed in 2008, with the LSO premiere on 14 December 2008, Daniel Harding, conducting, and the BSO premiere date is TBD; HELIOS CHOROS III, commissioned by the Orchestra of Paris, was composed in 2007 and is dedicated with admiration and gratitude to Christoph Eschenbach, was premiered on December 12, 2007 in Paris.
On January 16, 2009, VIOLIN CONCETO NO. 3 co-commissioned by Festival Présences with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the BBC Proms, and Mr. and Mrs. Bill Brown, and the National Symphony Orchestra, with Frank-Peter Zimmermann as violin soloist, will premiere in Salle Pleyel, Paris, with Andrey Boreyko , conducting. September 9, 2009 is the UK premiere, at the BBC Proms, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jiri Belohlavek, Frank Peter Zimmermann, soloist. The US premiere will likely be in April 2011 at the Kennedy Center.
A NEW WORK for orchestra, commissioned by the Juilliard School, will premiere in Fall 2009. The ASCAP FOUNDATION has commissioned a work for cello and piano entitled CANTOS FOR SLAVA, IN MEMORIAM MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH, which will be premiered and recorded by Matt Haimovitz in summer 2008. She is hoping to compose a chamber opera entitled ARIANNA, PRIMA DONNA. NEW WORK, commissioned by the San Francisco Girl’s Chorus for the occasion of their 30th Anniversary, for their Chorissima chamber choir, will premiere in October 2008. E.E. CUMMINGS SETTIGNS commissioned by the Houston Symphony will premiere on January 22, 2009, Hans Graf conducting, with Paula Page, solo Harp and Twyla Robinson solo Soprano; NEW WORK for Angel Fire Ensemble in New Mexico for 6 solo strings in August 2009; DREAM CATCHER a 25-minute work for solo violin, commissioned by Voices of Change in Dallas, Texas will premiere on May 17, 2009, Maria Schleuning, violin.
Recent projects include ASTRAL CANTICLE, a double concerto for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim conducting, Mathieu DuFour (flute) and Robert Chen (violin) soloists, which premiered in June 2006 and was one of two finalists for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Music; TERPSICHORE’S DREAM, music for dance, for chamber orchestra, was made as a gift to Cliff Colnot, who premiered it with the Utah Symphony on October 18, 2007; DREAM THREADS for youth orchestra and youth ballet, commissioned by the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, was premiered by the Patel Conservatory Youth Orchestra, Dr. William W. Wiedrich, Music Director, on 18 May 2008. The Orlando Ballet School, will choreograph this ballet; This entire project involves about 200 young musicians and dancers; SCAT for oboe (or flute), string trio and harpsichord (or piano), co-commissioned for the Walden Chamber Players by 20th Century Unlimited and Eleanor Eisenmenger with additional funding provided by the Argosy Foundation was premiered on November 11, 2007 at the Clark Art Museum in Williamstown, MA, at Smith College, and earlier that day at the state prison, Hampshire County House of Corrections, in North Hampton, MA; SHAKIN’ for the Memphis Symphony, David Loebel conducting, premiered in March 2006; TRACES for solo piano, commissioned by the Montalvo Festival for Lang Lang was to be premiered on January 18, 2007 but Lang Lang canceled one week before the premiere and played Beethoven instead. Amy Briggs Dissanayake recorded TRACES on a commercial CD that was released in November 2007. CREDENCES OF SUMMER for orchestra, for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Jahja Ling conducting, premiered in May 2005; and PURPLE SYLLABLES for vocal ensemble, commissioned by Music Accord for Chanticleer, was premiered by Chanticleer and received forty performances throughout the 2004-2005 season; GATHERING PARADISE for soprano and orchestra, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel, was premiered in September 2004; GALAXY DANCES for orchestra, commissioned by the National Symphony and Mstislav Rostropovich, was premiered in May 2004; TANGLE for orchestra, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson conducting, was premiered on March 18, 2004; LIGHT THE FIRST LIGHT OF EVENING for chamber orchestra, commissioned by the London Sinfonietta for the 50th birthday celebration of Oliver Knussen, was premiered on June 12, 2002, George Benjamin, conducting; CHANTING TO PARADISE for soprano soloist, chorus and orchestra, commissioned by the NDR and Christoph Eschenbach, premiered on November 15, 2002, and was performed on a tour through Germany in November 2002 (and this work received its American premiere on January 9, 2003 by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach, conducting); IN MY SKY AT TWILIGHT for soprano and ensemble, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW Series, was premiered on December 1, 2002, Pierre Boulez conducting; CANTICLE WEAVING for trombone and orchestra, commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting, was premiered on March 29, 2003; PULSAR for solo violin, commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society and the BBC’s Radio 3, was premiered by Ilya Gringolts on March 17, 2003 at Wigmore Hall; and TWO NEW ETUDES for solo piano was commissioned and premiered by James Giles on April 1, 2003.
Past projects and premieres from the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons include PRAYER BELLS for orchestra, commissioned by the Pittsburgh Orchestra and Mariss Jansons, which premiered on May 4, 2001; DAYLIGHT DIVINE for soprano, children's chorus and orchestra, commissioned by John Nelson, Indianapolis Children’s Choir, the American Boy’s Choir, and Soli Deo Gloria, was premiered on June 12, 2001; TRAINWORK for orchestra, commissioned by the Ravinia Festival and Christoph Eschenbach, was premiered on June 29, 2002; MURMURS IN THE MIST OF MEMORY for 11 solo strings, commissioned by the International Sejong Soloists, was premiered at the Aspen Music Festival on August 7, 2001; and RUMI SETTINGS for violin and viola, commissioned by the Tucson Friends of Chamber Music, was premiered by Ani and Ida Kavafian on March 5, 2002.
Premieres and projects from the 1999-2000 season include AURORA: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA, commissioned jointly by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, premiered with Daniel Barenboim as pianist and conductor on June 10, 2000, in Berlin by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and was later toured to Carnegie Hall and to the BBC Proms; CEREMONIAL for orchestra, commissioned and premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim conducting, on January 6, 2000; and SONG IN SORROW for orchestra and chorus, was commissioned and premiered by the Cleveland Orchestra on June 1, 2000.
Other past projects include WORDS OF THE SEA for orchestra, commissioned and premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez conducting, on December 12, 1996; CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA- ORBITAL BEACONS (for re-seated orchestra divided into ten sections of eight concertino groups with nine soloists and two chamber orchestras), commissioned and premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez conducting, on November 27, 1998; RITUAL INCANTATIONS, for cello and orchestra, commissioned by Thomas van Straaten and the Aspen Music Festival for cellist David Finckel, and premiered during Aspen Music Festival’s fiftieth anniversary season, Hugh Wolff conducting, on July 16, 1999; INVOCATIONS for string quartet, commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival for the Miami String Quartet, was premiered on March 19, 2000; RING OUT WILD BELLS TO THE WILD SKY (based on Tennyson texts) for solo soprano, chorus and orchestra, was commissioned and premiered by the Washington Choral Arts Society, Norman Scribner conducting, on February 25, 2000; FUGITIVE STAR for string quartet, commissioned by the Caramoor Chamber Music Festival for the Avalon String Quartet, was premiered on July 28, 2000. For Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, Ms. Thomas wrote SERENADE for chamber orchestra, which was recorded by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and played on continuous loop, non-stop, in the Seahorse Symphony exhibit for six years. PASSIONS for chamber orchestra was commissioned by the Minnesota Commissioning Club for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the James Sewell Dance Company, who presented the premiere performances on October 2, 3, 4 1998 at the Ordway Music Theatre in Saint Paul, MN., Keith Lockhart, conducting. PSALM 91: VERSE 11 was commissioned by Mr. Martin Mellish, on the occasion of his parent’s fortieth wedding anniversary and it was premiered on September 29, 1996, in Wells Cathedral, performed by the Wells Cathedral Men's and Boy's Chorus, Malcolm Archer, conductor.
Ms. Thomas' chamber opera LIGEIA (librettist: Leslie Dunton-Downer, based on the short story by Poe) was awarded the International Orpheus Prize (Luciano Berio, president of the jury) and performed in Spoleto, Italy (Luca Ronconi, stage director). LIGEIA, commissioned by Mstislav Rostropovich and Rencontres Musicales d'Evian, was premiered by Rostropovich at the 1994 Evian Festival. The American premiere took place at the Aspen Music Festival on July 27, 1995.
OTHER ACTIVITIES/POSITIONS HELD
Augusta taught composition at Tanglewood during the summers of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008. Thomas has also been on the Board of Directors of the American Music Center (www.amc.net) since 2000, as well as on the boards and advisory boards of several chamber music groups. Recently she was elected Chair of the Board of the American Music Center, a volunteer position that ran from 2005 to 2008.
Frequently Ms. Thomas undertakes short-term residencies in colleges, universities, and festivals across the country and in Europe. Her work has been featured on NPR's "Morning Edition" and “all things considered” as well as on Minnesota Public Radio’s "The Composer’s Voice." She was twice a Master Artist, leading a three-week composition program at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and was twice a featured artist in a one-week program at the Conductor's Institute held at the Hartt School of Music.
PRIZES/AWARDS/FELLOWSHIPS
Augusta Thomas has received prizes and awards from the Siemens Foundation in Munich; ASCAP; BMI; National Endowment for the Arts (1994, 1992, 1988); American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (2001, 1994, 1989; in 2001 she received the American Academy of Arts and Letters lifetime achievement award, its highest honor for music composition); John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; Koussevitzky Foundation; New York Foundation for the Arts; John W. Hechinger Foundation; Kate Neal Kinley Foundation; Debussy Trio Music Foundation and Thomas van Straaten; Columbia University (Bearns Prize); Naumburg Foundation; Fromm Foundation (1996, 1992); Barlow Endowment; Harriett M. Eckstein; Chamber Music America; French International Competition of Henri Dutilleux; Rudolph Nissim Award from ASCAP; New York State Council for the Arts; a Finalist Award in the Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Program; Indiana State University Orchestral Music Prize. The Office of Copyrights and Patents in Washington, D.C. awarded her its Third Century Prize.
Ms. Thomas was awarded fellowships from the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College– which is now The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Harvard University’s Society of Fellows, Rockefeller Foundation (Bellagio), International Rotary Foundation, L'Ecole Normal in Fountainbleau, France, Tanglewood Music Center, Gaudeamus Foundation, Wellesley Composers Conference, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Aspen Music Festival, and SUNY at Buffalo’s June in Buffalo Festival. Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity initiated her as an Honorary Member in 1996.
Seven years after graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in London, Thomas was elected as one of its Associates (ARAM, honorary degree), and in 2004 was elected a Fellow (the highest honor they bestow) of the Royal Academy of Music (FRAM, honorary degree). In 1998, she received the Distinguished Alumni Association Award from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. In 1999, she won the Award of Merit from the President of Northwestern University, and a year later received the Alumnae Award from Northwestern University.
PERFORMERS & ARTISTS
Ms. Thomas's orchestral works have been performed by the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, London Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Paris, National Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Orchestra of Radio France, American Composers Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, ORF-Vienna (Austrian Radio Orchestra), Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, Houston Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Holland Symphonia, Bochumer Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Lutoslawski Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Washington Choral Arts Society, Soli Deo Gloria, Virtuosi Players, Swedish Chamber Orchestra in Orebro, Marin Symphony, Syracuse Youth Orchestra, Columbus (GA) Symphony, Women's Philharmonic, Boston Civic Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, Swedish Wind Ensemble, New York Youth Symphony (First Hearing Commission), Concord Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony, Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay, and the Virtuosi Orchestra.
Presenters who have programmed her chamber music include the Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, June in Buffalo Festival, Krannert Center at the University of Illinois, Miller Theatre, Music in the Loft, Chicago Symphony MusicNOW series, the ICE Ensemble, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Southern Methodist University, C.U.B.E., Tucson Friends of Chamber Music, Chicago Children’s Choir and Chicago Youth Symphony, La Jolla Summerfest, Caramoor Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Syracuse Society for New Music, Villa Montalvo Center, Spivey Hall, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella Series. Ensembles who have programmed her work include Atelier Ensemble, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Callisto Ensemble, Core Ensemble, Eastman Brass Ensemble, Stonybrook Contemporary Music Ensemble, Fischer Duo, Amelia Trio, Eroica Trio, Kapell Trio, Debussy Trio, Milwaukee String Quartet, Trio West, Lions Gate Trio, Alexander String Quartet, Avalon Quartet, Lydian String Quartet, Mendelssohn String Quartet, the Warebrook Festival, the Killington Festival, Music at Bowdoin, Miami String Quartet, Ying String Quartet, International Sejong Soloists, San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players, Philadelphia’s Network for New Music, University of Chicago’s Contemporary Chamber Players, Indiana State University Contemporary Ensemble, and the Wellesley Composers Conference.
Solo vocalists including Twyla Robinson, Heidi Grant Murphy, Christine Brandes, Christine Brewer, Lucy Shelton, Tony Arnold, Carmen Pelton, Dorothea Roschmann, Rebecca Karpoff, Barbara Ann Martin, Simone Nold, Claire Booth, and Elizabeth Norman have sung Thomas’s vocal music.
Other artists who have performed her work include BBC Singers, Jeanne and Norman Fisher, Scott Kluksdahl, Katinka Klein, Baird Dodge, Heinrich Schiff, Harumi Rhodes, Movses Pogossian, Catherine Tait, Mark Rovetti, Matt Haimovitz, Anthea Kreston, Jason Duckles, Jonathan Yates, Jennifer Koh, Rachel Barton Pine, Jamal Rossi, Lawrie Bloom, Nate Cole, Stefan Hersh, Julian Hersh, Robert Walters, Amy Dissanayake, Laurel Ann Maurer, John Marcellus, Judy Siebert, Laura Frantschi, Bonita Boyd, Nicholas Goluses, James Giles, Ilya Gringolts, Antigoni Goni, Ani Kavafian and Ida Kavafian and Chanticleer.
In addition to the 36 CDs, which others have made of her music, Thomas has also self-produced five recordings, together representing excellent performances of 23 compositions.
The five CDs are these:
Words of the Sea ARTCD19952006
Terpsichore’s Dream ARTCD2007
Traces and Magneticfireflies ARTCD20002007
Sun Threads ARTCD19992007
Prairie Sketches ARTCD19912005
“Augusta Read Thomas writes precisely calibrated music of refined beauty. Her works are in the repertory of several A-list players and ensembles.”
David Weininger
Boston Globe
For further information, please consult: www.augustareadthomas.com. or www.schirmer.com or contact Kay Tucker at G. Schirmer Music Publisher for scores and CD’s at (212) 254-2100
Katy.tucker@schirmer.com
Works list is at: http://www.schirmer.com/composers/thomas/works.html