Andrew William Thomas

Biography

Andrew William Thomas (b. October 8, 1939 in Ithaca, NY) is an American composer. He studied with Karel Husa at Cornell University, with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and earned his M.M. and D.M.A. Degrees in Composition at The Juilliard School. At Juilliard he studied with Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter, and Otto Luening. He 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 and a Distinguished Teacher Citation from The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. After Vladimir Ashkenazy conducted The Deutsches Symphonie Orchester/Berlin in Dr. Thomas's Marimba Concerto, ‘Loving Mad Tom,‘ with Evelyn Glennie as the soloist, Jürgen Otten of Der Tagespiel wrote "... his arsenal of romantic ghost music from Weber to Berlioz to Liszt is recognized here, and sound-consciously conveyed into the modern idiom." - .

Many soloists, chamber organizations, and orchestras have recorded Dr. Thomas's music in the United States and abroad, including his work for solo Marimba, 'Merlin,' commissioned by William Moersch, which has become a standard among percussionists. Numerous recordings of this work are available, including ones by Mr. Moersch on Newport Classics and Nancy Zeltsman on GM Records. "Three Transformations" for duo marimbas, commissioned by Nancy Zeltsman, was recorded by Ms. Zeltsman and Jack Van Geem and is available on their "Pedro and Olga Learn to Dance" CD and other recordings. Both works have been requirements for percussion competitions.

The American Brass Quintet includes Dr. Thomas‘s ‘Consonanze Stravaganti‘ a work which they commissioned- on their “American Visions” album on the Summit label. ‘Loving Mad Tom,‘ a marimba concerto by Dr. Thomas and his concerto for guitar, percussion, and string orchestra, ‘The Heroic Triad‘ was recorded by the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the Opus One label with the composer conducting. It will be released sometime in 2007. Other works of Andrew Thomas that were commissioned and premiered by soloists and organizations within the past few years include: ‘Wind‘ for solo Marimba, composed for Makoto Nakura, ‘The Heroic Triad‘, for Twentieth Century Unlimited, ‘For the class of 2003‘, for Renée Fleming, ‘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, and ‘A Samba‘, a work for two solo flutes (Carol Wincenc and Robert Langevin), two flute choirs, and chamber orchestra.

 

  • chamber orchestra
  • ACE Publications

    65 title(s)
    Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
    Andrew William Thomas AFTERMATH sop,fl,vln,vla,vcl
    Andrew William Thomas ALEXANDER'S DARK BAND alfl/maracas; cl/gourds,bcl; hn/cowbell; tpt/claves; tba/barhn; 1perc; pf; vln/claves; cb
    cham ens: afl, cl/bscl, hn, tpt, tba, perc, pf, vln, cb (many players double on aux perc)
    Andrew William Thomas AN WASSERFLUSSEN BABYLON two pianos
    Andrew William Thomas ANOTHER NEW VOICE TEACHER voice and piano
    Andrew William Thomas BLACK MAMBA clarinet (A and Bflat), perc, cello, piano
    Andrew William Thomas BLIND MEN AND ELEPHANT children's chorus, piano
    Andrew William Thomas BRIEF, ON A FLYING NIGHT marimba and vibraphone
    Andrew William Thomas BROKEN CHORD violin, piano, speaker
    Andrew William Thomas CONSONANZE STRAVAGANTI 2 tpt, hn, tbn, bstbn
    Andrew William Thomas DANCES FOR FIVE cl, db, fl, mmba, perc
    Players double on hand percussion, fl/pic
    Andrew William Thomas DANCES ON THE CUCHABAMBA LAS PAMPAS RAILWAY piano 4-hands with percussion
    Andrew William Thomas EARLIER THAN MORNING
    voice, pf
    Andrew William Thomas ECHO solo organ
    Andrew William Thomas ELEGY (In Memory of Max Pollikoff) Ehn, Acl, Vcl
    Andrew William Thomas FIND ME A PRIMITIVE MAN TOO
    voice, pf
    Andrew William Thomas FOCUS OF THE HEART orchestra
    Andrew William Thomas FOUR Mzsop, pf
    Andrew William Thomas FOUR SCENES FROM THE SUMMER PALACE fl/pc, ob, cl, bsn, 2 hn, tpt, tbn, perc, strings
    chamber orchestra
    Andrew William Thomas FOUR STORM SCENES flute, harp
    Andrew William Thomas FROM THE BAT POET sop,sax qrt(satb-sop dbls sopranino)
    Andrew William Thomas GORILLA GORILLA GORILLA(Pt 3 of 'Three Tableaus for Woodwinds') 1-1-1-1,hn
    Andrew William Thomas GREAT SPANGLED FRITILLARY violin, marimba
    Andrew William Thomas HEROIC TRIAD guitar, perc (1) (marimba), string orchestra min 33231
    Andrew William Thomas HEXENGEHEULE (Witchhowl) duo for timpani and marimba
    Andrew William Thomas HO HO HO! woodwind quintet, with piano
    fl, ob, cl, hn, bsn, pf

    Additional Works