Composer in Residence
Kenneth Fuchs
October Classical: Atlantic Crossing
April Classical: Divine Mystery
All ASO guest artists appear through the generosity of
the Maurice and Dorothy Stubnitz Foundation Guest Artist Fund.
Sung, Dodson and Fuchs
The Adrian Symphony Orchestra named Kenneth Fuchs Composer in Residence following the success of three premières of his works performed by the orchestra last season. Fuchs and Music Director John Thomas Dodson have known one another since student days and had always dreamed of working together. In April, they got their wish when the ASO performed American Rhapsody, written especially for violinist Janet Sung and the ASO, as well as Discover the Wild, a piece originally composed for a nature series to run on PBS. In May, the orchestra performed Concerto Grosso for Strings, a version of Fuchs’s String Quartet No. 4 as an ensemble piece that Music Director John Thomas Dodson had suggested to the composer.
On October 24, the ASO will perform the première of a large symphonic work, Atlantic Riband. The Blue Riband was awarded to the fastest passenger ship to cross the Atlantic and was last awarded to the S.S. United States, a ship that Fuchs came to know as a child with repeated visits in New York harbor. If he hadn't become a composer, Fuchs might have become a ship’s captain. In April, the ASO will perform the première of Divinum Mysterium, a concerto for orchestra and viola based on the plainchant of the same name (best known as the hymn “Of the Father’s love begotten”). Fuchs composed the piece for Paul Silverthorne, legendary violist of the London Symphony Orchestra, whom Fuchs met on one of his own Atlantic crossings. Silverthorne will perform the première with the ASO.
Composer, conductor, and music administrator, Dr. Kenneth Fuchs has received numerous awards and honors for his music, including the Charles E. Ives Scholarship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, grants from Meet The Composer, the ASCAP Foundation, the American Bandmasters Association, and residencies at The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico.
In January 2008, Naxos released its second disc of music by Kenneth Fuchs, five compositions recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta. The soloists on this disc hold principal positions in the orchestra. The works include: United Artists (for orchestra), Canticle to the Sun (concerto for French horn and orchestra, written for Timothy Jones, principal hornist of the LSO), Autumn Rhythm (Idyll for Woodwind Quintet After a Painting by Jackson Pollock), Fire, Ice, and Summer Bronze (Idyll for Brass Quintet After Two Works on Paper by Helen Frankenthaler), and Quiet in the Land (Idyll for Mixed Quintet).
In September 2003, the London Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, featuring soloist Thomas Stacy, English hornist of the New York Philharmonic, recorded three Fuchs orchestral works. The works are: Out of the Dark (Suite for Chamber Orchestra After Three Paintings by Helen Frankenthaler); Eventide (Concerto for English Horn, Percussion, Harp, Celesta and String Orchestra); and An American Place (for orchestra). The recording sessions, produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Michael Fine, took place at LSO-St. Luke’s, London. The disc was released by Naxos Records on the “American Classics” label in August 2005. It received two 2005 Grammy Award nominations: “Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra” (Thomas Stacy and JoAnn Falletta for Eventide) and “Producer of the Year, Classical” (Michael Fine).
Fuchs has written for orchestra, band, chorus, jazz ensemble, and various chamber ensembles.
- He created with playwright Lanford Wilson three chamber musicals, The Great Nebula in Orion, A Betrothal and Brontosaurus, which were presented by Circle Repertory Company in New York City.
- Face of the Night (After a Painting by Robert Motherwell), a chamber concerto for oboe and English horn, was commissioned and premièred in January 1990 by Thomas Stacy and the New York Philharmonic Ensembles.
- Where Have You Been? (String Quartet No. 2 After Five Collages by Robert Motherwell), commissioned by the Board of Trustees of Manhattan School of Music for the American String Quartet on the occasion of their twentieth anniversary, was premièred in May 1994 at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.
- In the Clearing (Eight Poems of Robert Frost) was commissioned and premièred in May 1995 by Coro Allegro in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Christina’s World (Idyll for Winds, Brass, and Percussion After a Painting by Andrew Wyeth) was premièred in September 1997 at Festival Miami.
- Whispers of Heavenly Death (String Quartet No. 3 After Poems by Walt Whitman) was premièred by the American String Quartet in February 1999 at the University of Michigan.
- String Quartet No. 4, was premièred by the Bergonzi Quartet in September 1999 at Festival Miami.
- Eventide (Concerto for English Horn, Percussion, Harp, Celesta and String Orchestra), completed in February 2003, was composed especially for Thomas Stacy, English hornist of the New York Philharmonic.
- Quiet in the Land (American Idyll), for flute, clarinet, English horn, viola and violoncello, was commissioned by the Oklahoma Music Teachers Association in a joint venture with the Composers Commissioning Program of the Music Teachers National Association and premièred in May 2003 at the OMTA annual convention.
- Burning Blue (Fanfare-Overture for Winds, Brass, and Percussion), was commissioned by the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band (Langley Air Force Base, Virginia) and premièred on April 16, 2004, by the University of Oklahoma Wind Symphony at the Music Educators National Conference (national convention).
- Immigrants Still (After a Poem by Richard Wilbur), for a cappella chorus (s.a.t.b.), was commissioned by the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association and premièred on January 22, 2005, by the All-OMEA Honors Chorus at the OMEA annual convention.
- An American Place, a large-scale work in one movement for full orchestra, was premièred by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta conductor, Norfolk, in March 2005.
- Canticle to the Sun (Concerto for Horn and Orchestra), completed in April 2005, was composed especially for Timothy Jones, principal hornist of the London Symphony Orchestra. To be recorded at LSO-St. Luke’s, November 21-22, 2006, London.
- Autumn Rhythm (Idyll for Woodwind Quintet After a Painting by Jackson Pollock), completed in May 2006, was commissioned by the University of Miami School of Music. First performance to be September 17, 2006, at Maurice Gusman Concert Hall, Coral Gables, FL.
From 2005 through 2007, Fuchs headed the Department of Music at the University of Connecticut, where he continues as Professor of Music Composition. Previous positions include Director of the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma, Dean of Students and Academics at Manhattan School of Music in New York City, Assistant Dean of the School of Music at the North Carolina School of the Arts and, prior to that, Assistant to the Associate Dean and Director of Performance Activities at the Juilliard School.
Fuchs received his bachelor of music degree in composition from the University of Miami and his master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees in composition from the Juilliard School. His teachers include Milton Babbitt, David Del Tredici, David Diamond, Vincent Persichetti, Alfred Reed, and Stanley Wolfe. His music is published by E.B. Marks Music Company, Theodore Presser Company and Yelton Rhodes Music; his music is recorded by Naxos, Albany, and Cala Records.