Ricky Ian Gordon (born May 15, 1956) is an American
stage musicalMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
composer and lyricist.
Gordon was born in
Oceanside, New YorkOceanside is a hamlet located in the south part of the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York. The population was 32,733 at the 2000 census.-History:...
and raised on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
with his three sisters, Susan, Lorraine and Sheila, by his mother and father, Eve and Sam. His interests growing up, were vast and varied, ranging from foreign film, (Bergman, Ozu, Truffaut, Resnais, Rohmer, Godard, Antonioni, Fellini, Mizoguchi) to popular music, (Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Neil Young) to the composers of the twentieth century, (Berg, Bartok, Britten, Weill, Bernstein, Copland, Bartok, Shostakovich, Rorem, Prokofiev, Gershwin, Blitzstein, Messiaen, Tippett, Sondheim) to performance artists and innovative theater creators, (Meredith Monk, Robert Wilson) to painters (Francis Bacon, Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh, Hopper) to writers, (Gertrude Stein, Jane and Paul Bowles, Flannery O'Connor, William Maxwell, Paul Celan, Edna St.
Ricky Ian Gordon (born May 15, 1956) is an American
stage musicalMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
composer and lyricist.
Life and career
Gordon was born in
Oceanside, New YorkOceanside is a hamlet located in the south part of the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York. The population was 32,733 at the 2000 census.-History:...
and raised on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
with his three sisters, Susan, Lorraine and Sheila, by his mother and father, Eve and Sam. His interests growing up, were vast and varied, ranging from foreign film, (Bergman, Ozu, Truffaut, Resnais, Rohmer, Godard, Antonioni, Fellini, Mizoguchi) to popular music, (Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Neil Young) to the composers of the twentieth century, (Berg, Bartok, Britten, Weill, Bernstein, Copland, Bartok, Shostakovich, Rorem, Prokofiev, Gershwin, Blitzstein, Messiaen, Tippett, Sondheim) to performance artists and innovative theater creators, (Meredith Monk, Robert Wilson) to painters (Francis Bacon, Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh, Hopper) to writers, (Gertrude Stein, Jane and Paul Bowles, Flannery O'Connor, William Maxwell, Paul Celan, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dorothy Parker) to playwrights, (Chekov, Williams, O'Neill, Ionesco) and on and on, making him an unusual and perhaps even strange child. After studying composition at
Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since its inception, Carnegie Mellon has grown into a world-renowned institution, with numerous programs that are frequently ranked among the best in the world...
, he settled in New York City, where he quickly emerged as a leading writer of vocal music that spans
art songAn art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
,
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, and musical theater. Gordon's songs have been performed and or recorded by such internationally renowned singers as
Renée FlemingRenée Fleming is a Grammy Award winning American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice....
,
Dawn UpshawDawn Upshaw is a world-renowned American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to...
,
Audra McDonaldAudra Ann McDonald is a four-time Tony Award-winning actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett.-Biography:...
,
Kristin ChenowethKristin Chenoweth is an American singer, musical theatre, film, and television actress, and author. Some of her best-known roles have included her role as Sally Brown in Broadway's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, her role as Glinda in Broadway's Wicked, and her role as Annabeth Schott in...
, the late
Lorraine Hunt LiebersonLorraine Hunt Lieberson was a renowned American soprano then mezzo-soprano.-Her life:Her parents were both involved with opera in the San Francisco Bay Area; her mother, Marcia, was a contralto and music teacher and her father, Randolph, taught music in high school and college...
,
Frederica von StadeFrederica von Stade , is an American mezzo-soprano. Born in Somerville, New Jersey, she acquired the nickname Flicka in her childhood. Von Stade attended the Mannes College of Music in New York City. She made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1970 and in 1971 appeared as Cherubino in The...
, Andrea Marcovici,
Harolyn BlackwellHarolyn Blackwell is an African-American lyric coloratura soprano who has graced many of the world's finest opera houses, concert halls, and theaters in operas, oratorios, recitals, and Broadway musicals...
, and
Betty BuckleyBetty Lynn Buckley is a Tony Award-winning American theater, film, and television actress and singer.-Early life:Betty Lynn Buckley was born in Big Spring, Texas and raised in Fort Worth, the daughter of Betty Bob , a dancer and journalist, and Ernest Lynn Buckley, a retired lieutenant colonel in...
, among many others.
Recent productions
2008: "Green Sneakers", an hour-long song cycle for baritone, string quartet, empty chair, and piano (played by the singer), commissioned by Bravo!-Vail Valley Music Festival, and premiered July 15, directed by Jonathan Solari, with baritone Jesse Blumberg, the
Miami String QuartetThe Miami String Quartet is an American string quartet. The group was founded in 1988 at The New World School of the Arts by John de Lancie in Miami, Florida, and is now Quartet in Residence at The Hartt School in Connecticut and Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where all four members serve as...
, and projections by Wendall Harrington. In
Opera Today, Wes Blomster wrote, "Gordon creates masterpiece in "Green Sneakers"...It is amazing that in this his first work for string quartet Gordon has perfected an idiom that goes to the edge of tonality to create a microcosm of pain and despair that has all the markings of a contemporary Gesamtkunstwerk. Indeed, at the premier, members of the Miami String Quartet were no longer mere strings, but humanized voices that formed a seamless dramatic unity with Blumberg. Yet, despite its obvious personal intensity, Sneakers is in no way confessional...With the repetition of "Sleep Dear", the final words of Green Sneakers, one heard in Vail a distant echo of the "Ewig" that concludes Mahler's monumental Abschied. For this is a song of today's earth, a farewell lamentation that transcends death." and Robert Croan, writing about the Pittsburgh premiere in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, wrote, "Superb mini-opera conveys heartfelt grief...Gordon's musical style is post-modern (tonal and non-dissonant) and crossover (tinted with Broadway and pop), which gives the work immediacy and makes each audience member a participant in the tragedy. There was less physical action than in the "Orpheus", but more overt sadness and desolation, as well as an intricate oneness of words and music that is, after all, the essence of both opera and song."
2007:
The Grapes of WrathThe Grapes of Wrath is an opera in three acts composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a libretto by Michael Korie based on John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel of the same title...
, a full-scale opera with
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata.Libretto ,...
by
Michael KorieMichael Korie is an American librettist and lyricist. Korie's works include Grey Gardens , Harvey Milk and The Grapes of Wrath ...
, premiered at the
Minnesota OperaThe Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded in 1963 by the Walker Art Center, and is known for premiering such diverse works as Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and Frankenstein by Libby Larsen...
in a production that then traveled to Utah Opera. Musical America called the work, "The great American opera", and
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California since 1881. It is distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States...
critic Mark Swed wrote that: "…the greatest glory of the opera is Gordon's ability to musically flesh out the entire 11-member Joad clan…Gordon's other great achievement is to merge
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
and opera… greatly enhanced by his firm control over ensembles and his sheer love for the operatic voice." Alex Ross, in The New Yorker wrote "Gordon, who first made his name in the theatre and as a composer of Broadway-style songs, fills his score with beautifully turned genre pieces, often harking back to American popular music of the twenties and thirties: Gershwinesque song-and-dance numbers, a few sweetly soaring love songs in the manner of Jerome Kern, banjo-twanging ballads, saxed-up jazz choruses, even a barbershop quartet. You couldn’t ask for a more comfortably appointed evening of vintage musical Americana. Yet, with a slyness worthy of Weill, Gordon wields his hummable tunes to critical effect..." Future productions are scheduled at the
Pittsburgh OperaPittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Cultural District. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh...
(November, 2008),
Opera PacificOpera Pacific was an opera company located in the Orange County, California, United States city of Santa Ana. It operated for 22 seasons before closing in 2008 after several seasons of deepening financial difficulties.-History:...
(January, 2009), and a "
SuiteIn music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet, or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
" from the opera premiered at Disney Hall in spring 2008. Alan Rich wrote "Who Would Have Thought? Word was out, after performances in Minneapolis and Pittsburgh, that Ricky Ian Gordon's operatic setting of
John SteinbeckJohn Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and the novella Of Mice and Men . He wrote a total of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and five collections of short stories...
's
The Grapes of WrathThe Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers, the Joads, driven from their home by drought,...
was some kind of near-masterpiece; there was Mark Swed's near-ecstatic review to corroborate. I knew Ricky from lovable song collections and from the Orpheus and Euridice set in a Long Beach swimming pool a few months ago, lovable within reason. Steinbeck's great humanitarian tragedy was another matter. For the
Los Angeles Master ChoraleThe Los Angeles Master Chorale is a famous professional chorus in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the three original resident companies of the Music Center of Los Angeles County...
Ricky prepared a "suite" from his opera, a 50-minute encapsulation with big choruses, some solos and enough stage action to tie everything together and preserve a likeness of both novel and opera. It was a terrific event, not merely a teaser for the Opera Pacific production of the actual opera, which happens next January, but a concert work with an integrity of its own. Incidentally
Grant GershonGrant Gershon is an American conductor and pianist. He is Music Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Associate Conductor/Chorus Master of the Los Angeles Opera, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the USC Thornton School of Music.-Personal history:Gershon was born in Norwalk,...
, the Master Chorale's intrepid conductor, had also led the premiere performance at the Minnesota Opera.
2005:
Orpheus and Euridice, an hour-long song cycle in two acts, premiered at Lincoln Center. Directed and choreographed by
Doug VaroneChoreographer and director Doug Varone works in dance, theater, opera, film, television and fashion. In 2007 he created three major pieces for his own Doug Varone and Dancers – the full-length multi-media Dense Terrain at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Victorious, commissioned by Bard’s SummerScape,...
and performed by
Elizabeth FutralElizabeth Futral is an American coloratura soprano who has won acclaim throughout the United States as well as in Europe, South America, and Japan....
, Todd Palmer (
clarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet...
) and Melvin Chen (
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
), it won an
Obie AwardThe Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards bestowed by The Village Voice newspaper to theater artists and groups in New York City. As the Tony Awards cover Broadway productions, the Obies cover off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions...
and is recorded on Ghostlight Records and published by Carl Fischer Music. Peter G. Davis, reviewing it for
New York Magazine, wrote "Both Gordon's text and music are couched in an accessible idiom of disarming lyrical directness, a cleverly disguised faux naïveté that always resolves dissonant situations with grace and a sure sense of dramatic effect—the mark of a born theater composer."
2003:
My Life With AlbertineMy Life with Albertine is an Off-Broadway musical with book by Richard Nelson, music by Ricky Ian Gordon, and lyrics by both. The 2003 musical is an adaptation the semi-autobiographical novel by Marcel Proust, entitled In Search of Lost Time....
, written with
Richard NelsonRichard Nelson may refer to:* Richard Nelson , anthropologist and writer* Richard Nelson * Richard R...
and based on Proust's
Remembrance of Things Past, premiered at New York's
Playwrights HorizonsPlaywrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
(recorded on
PS ClassicsPS Classics is a record label that specializes in musical theatre and standard vocals. Founded in 2000 by Grammy-nominated freelance producer Tommy Krasker and singer/actor Philip Chaffin, their releases have been critically acclaimed for their meticulous sonic detail and high-quality packaging and...
and published by
Rodgers and HammersteinRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
/Williamson Music,
AT&TAT&T Inc. is the largest provider of local, long distance telephone services in the United States, and also serves digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150...
Award).
2001:
Bright Eyed Joy: The Music of Ricky Ian Gordon, was presented at Lincoln Center as part of the American Songbook Series.
Stephen HoldenStephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
, writing in
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
wrote of the work, "If the music of Ricky Ian Gordon had to be defined by a single quality, it would be the bursting effervescence in fusing songs that blithely blur the lines between art song and the high-end Broadway music of
Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
and
Stephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre , multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize...
…It's caviar for a world gorging on pizza."
Bright Eyed Joy is recorded on
Nonesuch RecordsNonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to license European recordings of classical music. Originally it concentrated heavily on chamber and baroque music, often...
with vocalists including Audra McDonald,
Dawn UpshawDawn Upshaw is a world-renowned American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to...
, and
Adam GuettelAdam Guettel is an American musical theater composer and lyricist best known for 2005's The Light in the Piazza, for which he won two Tony Awards and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations.-Early years:...
.
Other works include,
Dream True, written with Tina Landau and premiered in 1999 at The Vineyard Theater (recorded on PS Classics,
Richard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
Award,
Jonathan LarsonJonathan Larson was an American composer and playwright noted for the serious social issues of multiculturalism, addiction, homophobia, and AIDS explored in his work. Typical examples of his use of these themes are found in his works, Rent and tick, tick... BOOM!...
Foundation Award), and
Only Heaven, based on the works of
Langston HughesJames Mercer Langston Hughes, was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry...
and premiered in 1995 by
Encompass OperaEncompass New Opera Theatre is a professional opera company located in New York City which specializes in premiering new productions, and reviving 20th century operas by American and international composers. A member of Opera America, ENOT was founded in 1975 by Nancy Rhodes who remains the...
(recorded on PS Classics, and published by
Rodgers and HammersteinRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
/Williamson Music).
The Tibetan Book of the Dead, written with Jean Claude Van Itallie, premiered at the
Houston Grand OperaHouston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and Houston cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit and Edward Bing. With a current annual operating budget of $20 million, HGO has grown from a small regional company...
in 1996 and
Morning Star, written with
William HoffmanWilliam Hoffman can refer to:* William Hoffman , American novelist* Bill Hoffman , American baseball player* Billy Hoffman , American hacker* Wilhelm Hoffman, German soldier in World War II* Bill Hoffman...
which Gordon wrote for
Lyric Opera of ChicagoLyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
, where he was a composer-in-residence.
Gordon was the Composer-in-Residence at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Vail, Colorado, www.vailmusicfestival.org, in the summer of 2008, and he premiered
Green Sneakers, a new, hour-long song cycle for
baritoneBaritone is a type of classical male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek βαρύτονος, meaning 'deep sounding', music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second G below middle C to the F above...
and
string quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments — usually two violins, a viola and cello — or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
(Jesse Blumberg and The Miami String Quartet) on July 15. It was hailed a "Masterpiece" in
Opera Today. For the full article, read
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2008/07/gordon_creates.php.
He is currently working on commissions for New York Metropolitan Opera and for the 50th anniversary of the
Minnesota OperaThe Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded in 1963 by the Walker Art Center, and is known for premiering such diverse works as Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and Frankenstein by Libby Larsen...
. Gordon is also writing new musicals for
Playwrights HorizonsPlaywrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
and The Signature Theater in
Arlington, VirginiaArlington County is a county of about 210,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is located directly across the Potomac River to the southwest of Washington, D.C. Formerly part of the District of Columbia, the land now composing the county was retroceded to Virginia on July 9, 1846, in...
.
His publications include four songbooks
A Horse With Wings,
Genius Child,
Only Heaven, and
Finding Home, all published by
Rodgers and HammersteinRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
/Williamson Music and distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation. Hal Leonard also published two choral pieces,
Three By Langston, and
We Will Always Walk Together, Gordon's arrangement of the final song from
Dream True, which was premiered by Grant Gershon and the
Los Angeles Master ChoraleThe Los Angeles Master Chorale is a famous professional chorus in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the three original resident companies of the Music Center of Los Angeles County...
at Disney Hall. With Carl Fischer Music, he has published
Songs Of Our Time,
Piano Pieces: The Piano Music of Ricky Ian Gordon,
Orpheus and Euridice, and
Late Afternoon, a song cycle for
mezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
and
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. Carl Fischer will also publish
The Grapes of WrathThe Grapes of Wrath is an opera in three acts composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a libretto by Michael Korie based on John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel of the same title...
.
Among his other honors are the 2003 Alumni Merit Award for exceptional achievement and leadership from Carnegie-Mellon University, the Shen Family Foundation Award, the
Stephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre , multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize...
Award, The Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Award, The Constance Klinsky Award, and many awards from ASCAP, of which he is a member, The National Endowment of the Arts, and The
American Music CenterThe American Music Center is a national service organization and information center dedicated to building a national community for new American Music...
. Visit www.rickyiangordon.com
Discography
- "and flowers pick themselves"-Songs of Ricky Ian Gordon, Melanie Helton, Soprano, Ricky Ian Gordon, Piano, Raphael Jimenez, conductor of the MSU Symphony Orchestra (2008) Blue Griffin Records
- The Grapes Of Wrath — An Opera by Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie (2008) PS Classics
PS Classics is a record label that specializes in musical theatre and standard vocals. Founded in 2000 by Grammy-nominated freelance producer Tommy Krasker and singer/actor Philip Chaffin, their releases have been critically acclaimed for their meticulous sonic detail and high-quality packaging and...
- Bright Eyed Joy: The Songs of Ricky Ian Gordon (2001) Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to license European recordings of classical music. Originally it concentrated heavily on chamber and baroque music, often...
- Only Heaven: A Musical Work by Ricky Ian Gordon Based on the Poetry of Langston Hughes (2002) PS Classics
- My Life with Albertine (2003 Original Off-Broadway Cast) (2003) PS Classics
- Dream True — Songs from the Off-Broadway Show, (2006) PS Classics
- Orpheus and Euridice (2007) Ghostlight Records
Also:
- Cradle and All on Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald is a four-time Tony Award-winning actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett.-Biography:...
's Build a Bridge (2006) (Nonesuch Records) and Jessica MolaskeyJessica Molaskey is a singer of torch songs and show tunes who is a professional recording artist. She has appeared in a dozen Broadway shows such as the revival of Sunday in the Park With George and Cats and has premiered theater pieces off-Broadway, including the Jason Robert Brown 1995 musical...
's Make Believe (2004) (PS Classics)
- Water Music/A Two Part Requiem on Of Eternal Light, the BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
/Catalyst recording featuring Musica Sacra conducted by Richard WestenburgRichard Westenburg was a lauded American choral conductor. He notably founded the Musica Sacra Chorus and Orchestra in 1964, serving as its director until 2007 when Kent Tritle took over as director. He also founded the Basically Bach Festival at Lincoln Center in 1979, running the festival for a...
- 4 Songs on Audra McDonald's Way Back To Paradise (1998) (Nonesuch Records)
- Genius Child:A Cycle of 10 Songs on poems of Langston Hughes-Harolyn Blackwell-on her Strange Hurt CD-RCA Victor
Awards and recognition
- Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards bestowed by The Village Voice newspaper to theater artists and groups in New York City. As the Tony Awards cover Broadway productions, the Obies cover off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions...
- AT&T
AT&T Inc. is the largest provider of local, long distance telephone services in the United States, and also serves digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150...
Award
- Richard Rogers
Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, CH, FRIBA, FCSD, is a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs...
Award
- Jonathan Larson
Jonathan Larson was an American composer and playwright noted for the serious social issues of multiculturalism, addiction, homophobia, and AIDS explored in his work. Typical examples of his use of these themes are found in his works, Rent and tick, tick... BOOM!...
Foundation Award
- Carnegie-Mellon University Alumni Merit Award (2003)
- Shen Family Foundation Award
- Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre , multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize...
Award
- Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Award
- Constance Klinsky Award
- Multiple awards from:
- ASCAP
- National Endowment of the Arts
- American Music Center
The American Music Center is a national service organization and information center dedicated to building a national community for new American Music...
External links