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Biography
1947 – born in Eugene, Oregon, USA
1965-1969 – studies in theatre at Carnegie-Mellon University, in composition/piano at Philadelphia Musical Academy
1970-1980 – work in New York and San Francisco as composer/arranger/musical director for theatre/dance/cabaret
1986 – Premiere of Three Doñas for Guitar, commissioned by Marco de Waart, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1987 – Premiere of Tangos de Santa Fe, for flute, English horn and guitar, commissioned by the San Miguel Trio
1987 – Premiere of Brocadillos, suite for harp & guitar, suggested by the royal portraits by Velázquez, commissioned by Marco de Waart & Rosalind Simpson, Los Alamos, New Mexico
1987 – Premiere of Laughter in Excelsis, concert overture, commissioned by the Santa Fe Symphony
1990 – Premiere of Arabesco, suite for soprano, oboe & strings on Persian and Arabian texts, in French translation, performed by Serenata of Santa Fe
2001 – Premiere of Barbary Keep, opéra comique, original libretto by the composer and William Wesbrooks based on an incident in post-Civil War San Francisco, at New York University/ Steinhardt
2001 – Premiere of Queen of the Night, opera based on the Arthur Schnitzler novella Das Schicksal des Freiherrn von Leisenbohg, libretto in English by the composer, at the Atelier de la Main d'Or, Paris
2005 – Premiere of Matapolvos, suite for soprano, English horn, viola & cello, text in Spanish, based on texts from Century of the Wind (El Siglo del Viento) by Eduardo Galeano, commissioned by Serenata of Santa Fe
2007 – Premiere of Time Flying, orchestral poem, commissioned by Santa Fe Community Orchestra
2007 – Premiere of revised version of Queen of the Night, Garson Theatre Company's New Works Series, 2007 Season, Santa Fe
2009 – Premiere of Five Pieces of the Puzzle, septet for winds, strings & piano, Serenata of Santa Fe
2011 – Reading of Interlude for Strings: Winter Solstice, Santa Fe Community Orchestra
2014 – Premiere of Four Dances, septet for winds, strings & piano, Serenata of Santa Fe; later revised to Three Dances
2015 – Premiere of Milonga, aria for soprano & piano trio, text by the composer in English, Serenata of Santa Fe
2017 – Premiere of Los Bufones, operatic cantata based on the jester portraits of Velázquez, text by the composer, rendered into Spanish by María Cristina López and sung in Spanish, National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2017 – Premiere of A la Luna, suite for soprano, oboe & strings, a setting of the poem by Rosalía de Castro, Spanish text, commissioned by Serenata of Santa Fe
"Melody and dance rhythms figure prominently in my music, as well as shifting textures. I like to explore the interaction of distinct voices and shifting tonalities, in an atmosphere of harmoniousness and playfulness. I wish my music to express, and touch, what words cannot. Because I find limitless possibilities for musical expression in the natural harmonics/overtones of acoustic musical instruments and the human voice, atonality per se and intellectually formulated modes such as serialism hold no attraction for me. Most often, I like to let the form of a musical piece evolve from the material itself, rather than establishing a form before beginning to compose, or pretending that formlessness itself is form. I have come to prefer more intimate performance spaces to large halls and/or electronic amplification.
There are no productions for this artist in the Season Schedule of Performances which currently only dates back to 1991.
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Artist Information
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