Kenneth Fuchs

From Wind Repertory Project
Kenneth Fuchs

Biography

Kenneth Fuchs (b. 1 July 1956) is an American composer and educator.

Kenneth Fuchs serves as Professor of Composition at the University of Connecticut. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in composition from the University of Miami (cum laude) and his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City. His teachers include Milton Babbitt, David Del Tredici, David Diamond, Vincent Persichetti, Alfred Reed, and Stanley Wolfe.

Dr. Fuchs has composed music for orchestra, band, chorus, and various chamber ensembles. With Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson, he created three chamber musicals, The Great Nebula in Orion, A Betrothal, and Brontosaurus, originally presented by Circle Repertory Company in New York City. His music has been performed in the United States, Europe, China, and Japan.

The Adrian Symphony Orchestra in Michigan appointed Fuchs as composer in residence for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Under music director John Thomas Dodson, the orchestra performed world premieres of five works. The works included Divinum Mysterium, a concerto composed for Paul Silverthorne, principal violist of the London Symphony Orchestra.

In 2008, the United States Air Force Academy Band (Colorado Springs) commissioned the band version of Fuchs’s United Artists. Following performances throughout the United States, the band recorded the work for its disc Windscapes, released in December 2009. Hal Leonard Corporation published the work at the same time. The work has been played by high school and college bands throughout the United States and in China.

Marin Alsop selected Fuchs as one of ten composers in residence for the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in August 2007. Alsop conducted the world premiere of the original orchestral version of United Artists, following which critic Jason Victor Serinus wrote in the American Record Guide, “The work's dramatic, resounding chords and gloriously ringing flourishes constitute a modern fanfare of sorts.”

The London Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, has recorded two discs of Fuchs’s music. The first, released by Naxos Records in August 2005, was nominated for two Grammy Awards. The second disc, which features music for horn, was released by Naxos in January 2008. Musicweb International stated in February 2008, “Fuchs’s distinctive voice is evident from the outset, and his flair for orchestral colours and sheer lyricism shine through.” The highly successful disc Kenneth Fuchs: String Quartets 2, 3, 4 performed by the American String Quartet was released by Albany Records in 2001. American Record Guide stated quite simply, “String quartet recordings don’t get much better than this.”

The University of Miami Frost School of Music named Fuchs Distinguished Alumnus for the Year 2000. Phi Mu Alpha, the national music fraternity, named Fuchs a Signature Sinfonian in 2009, the designation “recognizes alumni members who have achieved a high standard of accomplishment in their field or profession, thereby bringing honor to Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity.”


Works for Winds


Resources