Andrew Thomas (composer)
| Andrew Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Andrew William Thomas |
| Born |
October 8, 1939 Ithaca, New York |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
Andrew William Thomas (born October 8, 1939 in Ithaca, New York) 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.
Thomas 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.
Although he has taught throughout the world, since 2000, Andrew Thomas has become a regular guest of the People's Republic of China. Under the auspices of the Chinese Government, Dr. Thomas performed his composition for solo piano, Music at Twilight in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. He was the head western judge of a panel of pianists from all over the world judging the 2000 Chinese Works Piano Competition.
In December 2001, Dr. Thomas went to Nanning, China to conduct his Three Scenes from the Summer Palace and other works, to perform as a pianist, and to teach master classes in composition. Dr. Thomas is now an Advisor of the Guangxi Arts College and a guest conductor of the Guangxi Arts College Youth Orchestra. He has returned yearly for further conducting and solo performances. He was honored as the main Western speaker at a conference of middle school administrators and government officials from all parts of China.
In an effort to upgrade music education throughout China, Dr. Thomas developed a program which brought together music academies in an effort to advance all the students’ technical and artistic abilities in Western as well as Asian music. In April 2004 he conducted the Shanghai Conservatory Youth Orchestra and the Nanning Symphony in a three concerto evening with student soloists from Shanghai, Nanning and, Juilliard.
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