Biography
| Known for his dramatic and unique style and as a gifted orchestral colorist, Joseph Schwantner is one of the most prominent American composers today. He received his musical and academic training at the Chicago Conservatory and Northwestern University and has served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, and the Yale School of Music, simultaneously establishing himself as a sought after composition instructor. Schwantner's compositional career has been marked by many awards, grants, and fellowships, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for his orchestral composition Aftertones of Infinity and several Grammy nominations. Among his many commissions is his Percussion Concerto, which was commissioned for the 150th anniversary season of the New York Philharmonic and is one of the most performed concert works of the past decade. Schwantner is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters |
|
Schwantner’s music is published exclusively by Schott Helicon Music Corporation and recorded on the RCA Red Seal/BMG, Hyperion, Naxos, Koch International Classics, EMI/Virgin, Sony, Delos, New World Records, Klavier and Innova labels. Schwantner’s recent commissions include works for the 75th anniversary of the National Symphony Orchestra, eighth blackbird, Flute Force, a work for flute and piano to honor flutist, Sam Baron’s memory and a Concerto for Percussion Section, Timpani and Orchestra for the Percussive Arts Society and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, for the Society’s 50th anniversary. |
| Commissions include |
| The Ford Made in America Consortium, the New York Philharmonic, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony, Boston Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, International Horn Society, Dallas Symphony, Pacific-Northwest Ballet, Chamber Music America, Howard Hanson Memorial Institute, Barlow Endowment, First New York International Festival of the Arts, San Diego Symphony, Fromm Music Foundation, Naumburg Foundation, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, American Composers Concerts Inc., American Heritage Foundation, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Canton Symphony, Solisti New York Chamber Orchestra and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. |
| Orchestral performances |
| by the London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Vienna Radio Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Orchestra de Liege, NHK Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Stockholm Philharmonic, Radio Chamber Orchestra of the Netherlands, Orchestra de Paris, Winnipeg Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Nuremberg Philharmonic, Utrecht Radio Orchestra, Slovenska Filharmonija, and the Orchestra de Liege. |
| Other orchestras |
| include Atlanta, Baltimore, Seattle, Oregon, Buffalo, Detroit, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Rochester, Louisville, Cincinnati, San Antonio, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Nashville, Fort Worth, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Virginia, Phoenix, Tucson, Florida, Omaha, Long Island, Richmond, South Bend, Columbus, Kansas City, Colorado, Grand Rapids, Canton, Honolulu, Flint, Arkansas, Spokane, Savannah, North Carolina, Pacific, Charleston, Springfield, Greensboro, Eugene, Saint Joseph, Gulf-Coast, Evansville, Charlotte, Roanoke, Albany, Lancaster, Louisiana, Syracuse, Colorado Springs, Victoria, New Jersey, Boston, Tuscalossa, New York City, National Repertory Orchestra, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, American-Soviet Youth Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, American Composer's Orchestra and the Esprit Orchestra. |
| Performances by chamber ensembles and chamber orchestras |
| the Holst-Sinfonietta, the London Sinfonietta, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Solisti New York Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble 21, Y Chamber Symphony, Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, the Electra Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, 20th Century Consort, Boston Musica Viva, Golliard Chorale, Da Capo Chamber Players, Collage, Voices of Change, New York New Music Ensemble, Society for New Music, Jubal Trio, Contemporary Music Forum, Contemporary Chamber Players of the University of Chicago, New and Unusual Music Series, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, New Performance Group, New Music Group, Virtuosi Della Rosa, Summit Brass, Thamyris Ensemble, Music Here and Now Series, New Band, New Music Group, Music of Our Time, Array Ensemble, Orchestra 2001, aswell as performances by many university-based orchestras and ensembles in the United States, Europe and Japan. |
| Works conducted by |
| Leonard Slatkin, Christoph Von Dohnanyi, Andrew Litton, Robert Spano, Yoel Levi, Gunther Herbig, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, David Zinman, Richard Pittman, Isaiah Jackson, James DePriest, Marin Alsop, Hugh Wolff, JoAnn Falletta, Gerard Schwarz, Raymond Lepard, Gunther Schuller, Mark Elder, John Williams, Lukas Foss, Joseph Silverstein, Victoria Bond, Chrstopher Wilkins, Stephen Gunzenhauser, Catherine Comet, James Freeman, David Loebel, Richard Pittman, Christopher Keene, and Gerhardt Zimmermann, among others. |
| Artists that have performed his work |
| Anne Akiko Meyers, Evelyn Glennie, Ivana Bilic, Flippo Lattanzi, Christopher Lamb, Gregory Hustis, Emanuel Ax, Lucy Shelton, James Diaz, Dawn Upshaw, Pinchas Zukerman, Ursula Oppens, Sharon Isbin, Linda Hohenfeld, William Warfield, Raymond Bazemore, Jane Manning, Coretta Scott King, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, actors James Earl Jones, Danny Glover, Robert Guillaume, Maya Angelou, Yolanda King, Alfre Woodard and Ed Bradley. |
|
Professional and Academic Recognition
Pulitzer Prize- AFTERTONES OF INFINITY (1979) Roger D. Moore Distinguished Visitor in Composition- Faculty of Music, University of Toronto The Maurice Abravanel Visiting Distinguished Composer- University of Utah Honorary Doctorate from Baldwin Wallace College Franklin &Marshall College 2000 Mueller Fellow Residency University of Georgia Center for Humanities and Arts Visiting Scholar Alfred I. DuPont Award for Outstanding Composers and Conductors First Prize- Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards- for MUSIC OF AMBER Third Prize- Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards- for A SUDDEN RAINBOW Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship Consortium Commissioning Grants NEA Composers Fellowship Grants NEA Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation Grant ISCM Composers Competition Grants New York State CAPS Grants Fairchild Award Charles Ives Scholarship (first recipient) American Academy of Arts and Letters Bearns Prize- Columbia University BMI SC Awards. |
|
Published by:
Recordings |
