Augusta Read Thomas

Augusta Read Thomas, born in 1964 in New York, is an associate Professor on the composition faculty at the Eastman School of Music. She currently holds a three-year position as Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She studied at Northwestern University, Yale University and at the Royal Academy of Music and her teachers included Jacob Druckman at Yale University and Alan Stout at Northwestern University.

Recent premieres and projects include Aurora, a piano concerto commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which received its premiere by Daniel Barenboim, conductor and pianist on June 10 and 11, 2000. The Cleveland Orchestra has also commissioned a work for chorus and orchestra, Song in Sorrow, which was premiered on July 1 and 2 at the Blossom Festival in commemoration of the Kent State 30th anniversary. The Chicago Symphony has commissioned another work for orchestra, Ceremonial, which had its world premiere with Barenboim conducting on January 6, 2000. The Choral Arts Society of Washington, has also commissioned a work for soprano, chorus and orchestra, Ring Out Wild Bells, which was performed on February 25, 2000 at the Kennedy Center. The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Chamber Music America commissioned a work for the Miami String Quartet, Invocations, which received its premiere in Santa Fe this past spring, and the Caramoor Festival has commissioned a string quartet for the Avalon Quartet, Fugitive Star, which will receive its premiere in July. Ms. Thomas’ chamber-opera Ligeia, (Librettist: Leslie Dunton-Downer/based on a short story by Poe) won the prestigious International Orpheus Prize (Luciano Berio: President of the jury) and was performed in Spoleto, Italy (Luca Ronconi: Director). Ligeia, commissioned by Mstislav Rostropovich and Rencontres Musicales d’Evion, was premiered by Maestro Rostropovich the 1994 Evian Festival

Conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Mstislav Rostropovich, Seiji Ozawa, Hans Vonk, Gerard Schwarz, Dennis Russell Davies, Keith Lockhart, Jahja Ling, Lawrence Leighton Smith, George Manahan, Jac Van Steen, Gianpiero Taverna, Peter Jaffe, Edwin London, David Gilbert, and Grant Llewellyn have programmed her works.