John Musto (born 1954) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. As a composer, he is active in opera, orchestral and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, song,

vocal ensemble A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

, and solo piano works. As a pianist, he performs frequently as a soloist, alone and with orchestra, as a chamber musician, and with singers.

Career

Born in 1954 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Musto studied at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

. After graduation from the conservatory with a reputation as a pianist, his compositions began to draw increasing attention and frequent performances. His long association with such institutions as the

New York Festival of Song The New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) presents an annual series of concerts in New York City dedicated to the art of song, classical, modern and popular. In addition, this organization commissions new works and recordings, including the Grammy Aw ...

(including serving as new music advisor), the Wolf Trap Opera Company, the

Caramoor Festival The Caramoor Summer Music Festival is a music festival founded in 1945 that is held on the estate of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, which includes a Mediterranean-style stucco villa and is located about north of New York City in Ka ...

, Copland House, the

Miller Theatre Miller Theatre at Columbia University is located on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University. It is a performing arts producer dedicated to developing and presenting new music. In 1988, the former McMillin Theater was renovated an ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and the Moab Festival have given him stable bases of operation and numerous commissions. He served as composer-in-residence at Caramoor for the 2005-2006 season.''New York Times''
Anne Midgette, "Caramoor Festival Resuscitates the Performing Composer, John Musto," June 23, 2006
accessed March 25, 2011 In 1986, he began to build a catalogue of published compositions at Peermusic Classical, which continues to grow steadily.

Personal

In 1984 John Musto married the sopran
Amy Burton
a member of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

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 operat ...

companies. He often appears with her as pianist in recital, cabaret and on recordings. Their son Joshua was born in 1994.

Worklist

Orchestra

*''Overture to Pope Joan'' (1998) full orchestra *''Passacaglia'' (2003) large orchestra *''Sinfonietta'' (2015) chamber orchestra

Piano and orchestra

*''Piano Concerto 1'' (2005) piano solo with full orchestra; premiered at Caramoor with the composer at the piano *''Piano Concerto 2'' (2005) piano solo with chamber orchestra; premiered at

with the composer at the piano

Voice and orchestra

*''Encounters'' (1992) tenor and full orchestra *''Dove Sta Amore'' (1996) soprano and chamber orchestra *''Quiet Songs'' (orchestrated 2009) soprano and chamber orchestra

Opera

*''Volpone'' (2004) comic opera in two acts with a libretto by Mark Campbell, commissioned by Wolf Trap *''Later the Same Evening'' (2007) opera in one act with a libretto by Mark Campbell; premiered at the

Glimmerglass Festival The Glimmerglass Festival (formerly known as Glimmerglass Opera) is an American opera company. Founded in 1975 by Peter Macris, the Glimmerglass Festival presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight ...

, July 2011Glimmerglass Opera
Double Bill
, accessed March 26, 2011 *''Bastianello'' (2008) comic opera in one act with a libretto by Mark Campbell *''The Inspector'' (2011), comic opera with a libretto by Mark Campbell based on GogolWolf Trap
The Inspector Creative Team
accessed March 25, 2011

Chamber music

*''Piano Trio'' (1998) violin, violoncello and piano *''Divertimento'' (1999) flute, clarinet, viola, violoncello, piano and percussion *''Clarinet Sextet'' (2001) clarinet,

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

and piano *''Sonata for Violoncello and Piano'' (2019) *''Sonata for Clarinet and Piano'' (2020) *''Quintet for Piano and String Quartet'' (2022)

Piano solo

*''Five Concert Rags'' (1991-8) *''Improvisation and Fugue'' (2008)

Two pianos

*''Symphonic Dances from'' "West Side Story" (arr. 1998) *''Passacaglia'' (arr. 2009)

Transcriptions for Two-Pianos

* Johann Sebastian Bach: ''Prelude and Fugue'' (St. Anne) * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: ''Overture to The Magic Flute''

Vocal chamber music

*''The Old Gray Couple'' (1994) soprano, baritone with piano four-hands *''The Book of Uncommon Prayer'' (2001) SATB with piano *''River Songs'' (2002) baritone, violoncello and piano *''Another Place'' (2016) Soprano and String Quartet

Choral

*''Starsong'' (1997) SATB, harp and two horns *''Five Motets'' (2001) a capella mixed chorus *''Ah, May the Red Rose Live Alway'' (2016) rrangement SATB*''...a silence that speaks'' (2017) a capella mixed chorus

Voice and piano

*''Two by Frost'' (1986) *''Canzonettas'' (1984) *''Enough Rope'' (1985) *''Shadow of the Blues'' (1986) *''Recuerdo'' (1988) *''Quiet Songs'' (1990) *''Dove Sta Amore'' (1996) *''Penelope'' (2000) *''Viva Sweet Love'' (2005) *''The Brief Light'' (2010) *''Scottish Songs'' (2013) *''Another Place'' (2016) *''Be Music, Night'' (2017)

Single Songs

*''Triolet''(1987) *''Lament'' (1988) *''Heartbeats'' (1992) *''Flamenco'' (2000) *''I Stop Writing the Poem'' (2001) *''Old Photograph'' (2001) *''San Jose Symphony Reception'' (2001) *''Words To Be Spoken'' (2001) *''Nude at the Piano'' (2003) *''Summer Stars'' (2012) *''Sarah's Song'' (2012) *''Nightsong'' (2018)

Notes

External links

Official Site

Peermusic Classical: Publisher Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musto, John 1954 births 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 21st-century classical composers 21st-century classical pianists American classical composers American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists American male classical composers American opera composers Male opera composers Living people Manhattan School of Music alumni Musicians from Brooklyn 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians