Andrew William Thomas (born October 8, 1939) is an American composer.
He studied with
Karel Husa at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, with
Nadia Boulanger
Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist.
From a ...
in Paris, and earned his M.M. and D.M.A. Degrees in Composition at The
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
. At Juilliard he studied with
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...
,
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...
, and
Otto Luening
Otto Clarence Luening (June 15, 1900 – September 2, 1996) was a German-American composer and conductor, and an early pioneer of tape music and electronic music.
Luening was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to German parents, Eugene, a conduct ...
.
Thomas teaches and was the chairman of the Composition Department at the Pre-College Division at Juilliard from 1969 to 1994. In 1994, the Juilliard School appointed him the Director of the Pre-College Division.
In addition to composing, Dr. Thomas performs as a pianist, conductor, and is a guest teacher throughout the world. His many awards include a grant from The
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
and a Distinguished Teacher Citation from The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.
Career
Although he has taught throughout the world, since 2000, Andrew Thomas has become a regular guest of the People's Republic of China. Under the auspices of the Chinese Government, Dr. Thomas performed his composition for solo piano, ''Music at Twilight'' in Hong Kong and
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
.
He was the head western judge of a panel of pianists from all over the world judging the 2000 Chinese Works Piano Competition.
In December 2001, Dr. Thomas went to
Nanning, China to conduct his ''Three Scenes from the Summer Palace'' and other works, to perform as a pianist, and to teach master classes in composition. Dr. Thomas is now an Advisor of the
Guangxi Arts College and a guest conductor of the Guangxi Arts College Youth Orchestra. He has returned yearly for further conducting and solo performances. He was honored as the main Western speaker at a conference of middle school administrators and government officials from all parts of China.
In an effort to upgrade music education throughout China, Dr. Thomas developed a program which brought together music academies in an effort to advance all the students’ technical and artistic abilities in Western as well as
Asian music
Asian music encompasses numerous musical styles originating in many Asian countries.
Musical traditions in Asia
* Music of Central Asia
** Music of Afghanistan (when included in the definition of Central Asia)
** Music of Kazakhstan
** Music ...
. In April 2004 he conducted the
Shanghai Conservatory Youth Orchestra and the
Nanning Symphony in a three concerto evening with student soloists from Shanghai,
Nanning and,
Juilliard
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
.
He is currently composing a new evening length cross-cultural ballet, "Focus of the Heart" for the Chinese people with an original story written by his partner
Howard Kessler. The score utilizes both full Traditional Chinese and Western orchestras. It was scheduled to be premiered Fall 2009 in Beijing.
Since 2003 Dr. Thomas has lectured, taught, and performed in Korea at a
music festival that he co-directed. This festival, The Seoul Music Festival and Academy brings together Western and Korean teachers to perform and to teach advanced String and Piano students. He conducted two programs with the
Prime Symphony Orchestra, and one with the
Suwon Philharmonic, then another program for the
Korean Symphony Orchestra
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
** Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju languag ...
, including his concerto for marimba and orchestra, ''Loving Mad Tom'', all in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
, Korea.
On October 9, 2004, Dr. Andrew Thomas gave a piano recital in the Juilliard Theater at the Juilliard School celebrating his 65th birthday, 35 years teaching at the Juilliard School and ten years as its Pre-College director. After twelve years he stepped down from his administrative position in 2006 to concentrate on his composition works, to teach and to foster the musical talents of young international "Citizens of the World". At his farewell party Juilliard bestowed upon him the title of director emeritus.
Works
*''Loving Mad Tom'', a concerto for
marimba
The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
and orchestra, commissioned by
William Moersch,
*''Merlin'' for solo marimba, commissioned by
William Moersch,
*''Three Transformations'' for duo marimbas, commissioned by
Nancy Zeltsman,
*''Consonanze Stravaganti'' commissioned by
American Brass Quintet
When the American Brass Quintet gave its first public performance on December 11, 1960, brass chamber music was still relatively young to concert audiences. The New York Brass Quintet is regarded as the first brass quintet in the United States, ha ...
,
*''The Heroic Triad'', concerto for guitar, percussion, and string orchestra composed for Twentieth Century Unlimited
*''Wind'' for solo Marimba, composed for
Makoto Nakura,
*''For the class of 2003'' composed for
Renée Fleming
Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for ...
,
*''Valse Triste'', a solo marimba work for
Simon Boyar,
*''Crane by the River Li'' for the Traditional Chinese Instrument Orchestra of the
Guangxi Arts College in
Nanning, China,
*''A Samba'' for two solo flutes, two flute choirs, and chamber orchestra,
*''Music at Twilight'' for solo piano,
*''Three Scenes from the Summer Palace''.
Dr. Thomas has also orchestrated his music for lyricist,
Gene Scheer‘s ''Lean Away'' and ‘I Just Found Another New Voice Teacher‘ for a
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
performance of ''
Die Fledermaus
' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874.
Background
The original li ...
''.
Reviews
After
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...
conducted The
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) is a German broadcast orchestra based in Berlin. The orchestra performs its concerts principally in the Philharmonie Berlin. The orchestra is administratively based at the ''Rundfunk Berlin-Branden ...
in Dr. Thomas's marimba concerto, ''Loving Mad Tom'' with
Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015.
Early life
Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. The in ...
as the soloist, Jürgen Otten of
Der Tagespiel wrote "... his arsenal of romantic ghost music from Weber to
Berlioz to
Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
is recognized here, and sound-consciously conveyed into the modern idiom."
References
External links
American Composers AllianceAndrew Thomas Papersat the
University of Maryland Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Andrew
1939 births
Living people
American male composers
21st-century American composers
Cornell University alumni
Juilliard School alumni
Juilliard School faculty
21st-century American male musicians