Kenneth Fuchs

Kenneth Fuchs
Background information
Born July 1, 1956
USA
Genres Classical
Occupation(s) Composer, Conductor, Educator
Labels Naxos
Associated acts London Symphony Orchestra, American String Quartet
Website Official site

Kenneth Fuchs (born July 1, 1956) is an American composer, conductor, and educator. He is Professor of Music Composition at the University of Connecticut (Storrs).

Music

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, which were originally presented by Circle Repertory Company in New York City. Fuchs's operatic monodrama Falling Man (text by Don DeLillo, adapted by J. D. McClatchy) was presented at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of 9/11. His music is regularly performed in the United States, Europe, China, and Japan.

The London Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, has recorded four discs of Fuchs's music for Naxos American Classics. The first, released in August 2005, was nominated for two Grammy Awards (Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra (Thomas Stacy, English horn, JoAnn Falletta, conductor) and Producer of the Year, Classical (Michael Fine)). The second disc, which features music for horn, was released in January 2008. Following the release of this disc, MusicWeb-International stated, "Fuchs's distinctive voice is evident from the outset, and his flair for orchestral colours and sheer lyricism shine through." The third disc, recorded in August 2011 at London's historic Abbey Road Studios, was released in August 2012. Following the release of this disc, BBC Music Magazine stated, "Kenneth Fuchs writes tonal orchestral music of great imagination. He's a master of orchestral writing. On Naxos's third Fuchs recording, everything gets five-star treatment. The LSO under JoAnn Falletta sounds brilliant in a spacious Abbey Road recording." The disc was included in the 2012 Grammy Award nominations for the category Producer of the Year, Classical (Tim Handley). The fourth disc, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in August 2013, featuring a program of vocal music based on texts by Don DeLillo, John Updike, and William Blake, was released in August 2014. Gramophone Magazine featured the disc in its Awards Issue (October 2014), stating, “Fuchs claims his own expressive warmth and colour…. The performances are exemplary, from baritone Roderick Williams's commanding artistry to the bold, fresh playing of the London Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta’s sensitive direction.”

Fuchs's latest disc of chamber music was released by Naxos in April 2013 and includes Falling Canons (Christopher O'Riley, piano), Falling Trio (Trio21), and String Quartet No. 5 "American" (Delray String Quartet). The disc received outstanding reviews in print and at on-line sources, including Fanfare Magazine, Gramophone Magazine, and MusicWeb-International.

In 2012, the United States Air Force Band of Flight (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio) commissioned Fuchs's celebration fanfare for brass and percussion From the Field to the Sky. The work, dedicated to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, was premiered under the baton of Lieutenant Daniel W. Boothe on November 3, 2012. In 2008, the United States Air Force Academy Band (Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado) commissioned Fuchs's work for band United Artists. Following performances on tour throughout the U.S., the band recorded the work under the baton of Colonel Larry H. Lang for inclusion on the disc Windscapes, which was released in December 2009. The work was simultaneously published and released by the Hal Leonard Corporation, the world's largest music print publisher. Since its release the work has been played by high school and college bands throughout the United States and in China. In September 2011, Hal Leonard followed up with Fuchs's work for band Discover the Wild.

The Adrian Symphony Orchestra in Michigan appointed Fuchs as composer in residence for the 2009–10 seasons. In collaboration with music director John Thomas Dodson, the residency included world premiere performances of five works. The residency concluded with the premiere of Divinum Mysterium (concerto for viola and orchestra) on April 10, 2010. The concerto was composed especially for London Symphony Orchestra principal Paul Silverthorne, who performed the premiere in Adrian. Silverthorne recorded the work with the LSO for Fuchs's third Naxos disc on August 19, 2011.

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 Fuchs's work 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 highly successful disc Kenneth Fuchs: String Quartets 2, 3, 4 performed by the American String Quartet was released by Albany Records in 2001. Following the release of this disc, the American Record Guide stated quite simply, "String quartet recordings don't get much better than this."

Fuchs received his Bachelor of Music degree (1979) in composition from the University of Miami and his Master of Music (1983) and Doctor of Musical Arts (1988) degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City. His teachers included Milton Babbitt, David Diamond, Vincent Persichetti, David Del Tredici, Alfred Reed and Stanley Wolfe. The University of Miami Frost School of Music named him Distinguished Alumnus for the Year 2000. The University of Miami Band of the Hour Association inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2008. Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, 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."

Fuchs has also been deeply committed to arts administration. He served as Head of the Department of Music at the University of Connecticut from 2005 to 2008. Prior to this, he served as Director of the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma from 1998 to 2005. Previous administrative positions include Dean of Students and Academics at the Manhattan School of Music (1990–1998), Assistant Dean of the School of Music at the North Carolina School of the Arts (1988–1989), and Assistant to the Associate Dean at the Juilliard School (1985–1988). Fuchs served as a member of the Commission on Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Music (2003–2009), evaluating music curricula at collegiate institutions throughout the United States. He served as an on-site evaluator to such institutions as the Cleveland Institute of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Arizona State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the University of Washington.

Kenneth Fuchs has composed scores for orchestra, band, solo instruments, voice, chorus, standard and mixed chamber ensembles, and musical theater. His music is published by Edward B. Marks Music Company (an imprint of Carlin America), Hal Leonard Corporation, Theodore Presser Company, and Yelton Rhodes Music.

In April 2008, Steve Schwartz wrote on the Moderated Classical Music List, "Kenneth Fuchs studied with, among others, Babbitt, Diamond, and Persichetti. In sound, the bustling Persichetti exercises the dominating influence, but Babbitt probably wields more in Fuchs's habits of construction. Most immediately, the sound of Fuchs's music grabs your attention in ways similar to Copland's. Bright, lean sonorities – high strings, widely-spaced chords, big-shoulder brass, and so on – prevail. Yet, also like Copland, Fuchs has more to offer than orchestration – namely, real matter and argument. Fuchs builds almost all the scores here out of limited sets of intervals or even specific pitches.... It's all tonal, even mainly diatonic, although not really minimalist, if you care. However, the means allow Fuchs to take an individual approach to tonality. Key-change means less than rhythmic and textural change. The piece takes shape as we hear the basic building blocks – like individual tiles in a mosaic – slipping into place."

Discography

Recordings of Fuchs's music include:

Private life

Kenneth Fuchs resides in Mansfield Center, Connecticut. His life partner since 1980 is graphic designer Chris von Rosenvinge. They were married in Connecticut on April 28, 2009, the first day of their thirtieth year as a couple.

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