Richard Beaudoin
Encyclopedia
Richard Beaudoin is an American composer of classical music.
Richard Beaudoin was born in 1975 in North Attleborough, Massachusetts
. He graduated from North Attleborough High School
in 1993. Five years later he graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College
, where he studied with Lewis Spratlan
. He was a MacDowell Colony
Fellow in 1999. He earned his M.Mus. in Music Composition from London's Royal Academy of Music
in 2002 and his Ph.D. in Composition and Music Theory from Brandeis University
in 2008.
He has taught at Amherst, Brandeis, and Harvard University
. He has published scholarly articles in such journals as the Journal of Music Theory
and Perspectives of New Music
.
The first act of his opera-in-progress Pierre based on Herman Melville's Pierre: or, The Ambiguities
was staged at London's Arcola Theatre
in 2007.
Two of his works for piano, Qui Tollis and Les signes de ma faiblesse, have been recorded by Constantine Finehouse and released in January 2010. His works have been performed by the Kreutzer, Lydian and Chiara
String Quartets, by members of the Philharmonia Orchestra
, Annette Dasch
, and others.
In 2010, Boston Lyric Opera
commissioned a work from Beaudoin to precede its February 2011 performances of Viktor Ullmann
's Der Kaiser von Atlantis
. Beaudoin responded with a 20-minute work for singers and chamber ensemble, The After-Image. It premiered on February 1, 2011.
Richard Beaudoin was born in 1975 in North Attleborough, Massachusetts
North Attleborough, Massachusetts
North Attleborough, commonly written North Attleboro, is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2010 United States Census.The village of North Attleborough Center is located in the town.-History:...
. He graduated from North Attleborough High School
North Attleborough High School
North Attleborough High School is a public high school in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, educating grades 9 through 12 with over one thousand students enrolled.-History:...
in 1993. Five years later he graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, where he studied with Lewis Spratlan
Lewis Spratlan
M. Lewis Spratlan Jr. is an American music academic and composer of contemporary classical music.Born in Miami, Florida, Spratlan played the oboe as a youth. He attended Yale University and was a student of Mel Powell and Gunther Schuller...
. He was a MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
Fellow in 1999. He earned his M.Mus. in Music Composition from London's Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
in 2002 and his Ph.D. in Composition and Music Theory from Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
in 2008.
He has taught at Amherst, Brandeis, and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He has published scholarly articles in such journals as the Journal of Music Theory
Journal of Music Theory
The Journal of Music Theory is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established by David Kraehenbuehl in 1957....
and Perspectives of New Music
Perspectives of New Music
Perspectives of New Music is a peer-reviewed, academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was founded in 1962 by Arthur Berger and Benjamin Boretz , making it the second-oldest music-theory journal now published in the United States .Perspectives was a Princeton-based journal...
.
The first act of his opera-in-progress Pierre based on Herman Melville's Pierre: or, The Ambiguities
Pierre: or, The Ambiguities
Pierre: or, The Ambiguities is a novel written by Herman Melville, and published in 1852 by Harper & Brothers.The publication of Pierre was a critical and financial disaster for Melville. It was universally condemned for both its morals and its style...
was staged at London's Arcola Theatre
Arcola Theatre
Arcola Theatre is a studio theatre in Dalston, in the London Borough of Hackney. The theatre's ambition is to create and present high-quality theatre with a social and political relevance to its multicultural local community as well as a wider audience....
in 2007.
Two of his works for piano, Qui Tollis and Les signes de ma faiblesse, have been recorded by Constantine Finehouse and released in January 2010. His works have been performed by the Kreutzer, Lydian and Chiara
Chiara String Quartet
The Chiara String Quartet is an internationally performing professional string quartet based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The group is the Quartet-in-residence at the School of Music in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is also the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University...
String Quartets, by members of the Philharmonia Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
, Annette Dasch
Annette Dasch
Annette Dasch is a German soprano. She performs in operas and concerts.- Biography :Annette Dasch studied voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Josef Loibl....
, and others.
In 2010, Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera is an American opera company based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1976.Each season, BLO produces three mainstage productions at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre in Boston and a fully staged, one-hour English language version of a popular opera for school...
commissioned a work from Beaudoin to precede its February 2011 performances of Viktor Ullmann
Viktor Ullmann
Viktor Ullmann was a Silesia-born Austrian, later Czech composer, conductor and pianist of Jewish origin.- Biography :...
's Der Kaiser von Atlantis
Der Kaiser von Atlantis
Der Kaiser von Atlantis, oder Die Tod-Verweigerung is a one-act opera by Viktor Ullmann with a libretto by Peter Kien. Both Ullmann and Kien were inmates at the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt , where they collaborated on the opera, around 1943...
. Beaudoin responded with a 20-minute work for singers and chamber ensemble, The After-Image. It premiered on February 1, 2011.
Works (partial list)
- Dramatic
- Himmelfahrt (Ascension), chamber opera for six voices (2007)
- Pierre (work in progress)
- The After-Image (Das Nach-Bild), bass, mezzo-soprano, clarinet, violin, violoncello and piano (2010)
- Choral
- A stand of people, a capella choir (2001)
- Vocal
- Light Verse, voice and piano (2002)
- Eunoia Songs, tenor and piano (2005)
- Romanzero Lieder, tenor and piano (2007)
- Nach-Fragen, voice and piano (2008)
- Chamber
- The Artist and his Model II—La durée sans contacts s'affaiblit, string quartet (2010)
- Étude d'un prélude X—Second String Quartet (2009)
- First String Quartet: Memor fui nocte nominis tui (2007)
- In höchster Not, for violin and piano (2005), dedicated to Jesse Holstein
- Orchestra/large ensemble
- Étude d'un prélude V—Photorealism (2009)