William Thomas McKinley

William Thomas McKinley ( born December 9, 1938 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, Tom McKinley ) is an American composer and jazz pianist, who worked as a university teacher.

Life and work

McKinley had as a child first drum, then from the age of six piano lessons. During his high school years he worked as house pianist at a restaurant in Pittsburgh and took improvisation classes with the jazz pianist Carolyn Shankovich. In the Carnegie Institute of Technology, he studied piano with Leonard Eisner, later composition with Nikolai Lopatnikoff. In 1962 he was awarded the BMI Student Composer Awards. From 1963, he attended summer courses at Tanglewood, guided by Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss and Gunther Schuller where he met the serial music that has been conducting for him as a compositional principle later. From 1966 to 1969 he studied at Yale University with Mel Powell. Here he met the saxophonist and clarinetist Les Thimmig Richard Stoltzman know that later important interpreters of his works were. He taught during this time one semester opera history at SUNY Albany.

From 1969 to 1973 McKinley taught at the University of Chicago. During this time he received from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra commissioned to compose his Triple Concerto and played as a pianist Ralph Shapeys a ritual. In 1973 he moved to the New England Conservatory of Music, where he worked for twenty years as a professor of composition and jazz music. From 1975, he received eight awards of the NEA, 1976, he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. The following year he was honored for his Symphony No. 1 with the Minnesota Orchestra 75th Anniversary Prize, in 1977 he received an award from the Massachusetts Arts and Humanities Foundation. From 1978, his collaboration with the New Music Ensemble Boston Musica Viva began under the direction of Richard Pittman.

This was followed by numerous commissions and performances of his works by American and foreign orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra under John Williams, the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, David Stock, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Pasadena Symphony under Jorge Mester, the American Symphony under Robert Black, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Manahan, the Rheinische Philharmonie under James Lockhart and the Queensland Youth Orchestra conducted by John Curro. For the city of Emsdetten he composed the Emsdettener dance of death.

In addition to Richard Stoltzman and Les Thimmig led to soloists such as Gary Burton, Walter Trampler, Sol Greitzer, Deborah Greitzer, Jeff silver shock, Colin Carr, Glenn Dicterow, Karen Dreyfus, Bernard Goldberg, Dave Samuels and Stan Getz works McKinley. With the Master Musicians Collective, whose founder and director McKinley, he performed numerous world premieres of works by contemporary composers. As a jazz musician he worked, inter alia, with Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Tom Harrell, Shlomi Goldenberg, Miroslav Vitous, Roy Haynes and Billy Hart together.

Works (selection)

  • Concerto Fantasy for Viola and Orchestra (1978 )
  • Against the Distant Bells ( 1981)
  • Concerto No.1 for Viola and Orchestra (1984 )
  • American Blues ( 1986)
  • Tenor Rhapsody for Solo Tenor Sax and Orchestra (1988 )
  • Ancient Memories, Chamber Concerto for Viola and Chamber Ensemble (1989 )
  • Concerto for Clarinet and Jazz Orchestra (1990 )
  • Concert Variations for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (1993 )
  • Trio for 2 Violins and Viola (1971 )
  • Little Sonata for Viola, Clarinet and Piano (1973 )
  • Portraits for viola solo (1973 )
  • Waves, Study for viola solo (1973 )
  • Goodbye for Clarinet and Piano (1981 )
  • Trio Appassionato for Clarinet, Viola and Piano (1982 )
  • Samba for Viola and Piano (1984 )
  • Sonata No.1 for Viola and Piano (1984 )
  • Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

Disco Graphical Notes

  • William Thomas McKinley R.A.P. / Marimba Concerto / 13 Dances for Orchestra (Boston Modern Orchestra Project under the direction of Gil Rose with soloist Richard Stoltzman and Nancy Zeltsman )
  • Ralph Shapey ritual for Symphony Orchestra; String Quartet No.. 6 ( with the London Sinfonietta under the direction Shapeys; 1972)
  • Charles Licata: Plain Talk ( with George Garzone, Gary Peacock, Alex German, 1992)
  • Tom McKinley - Miroslav Vitous ( with Roger Ryan, 1994)
National Endowment for the Arts Miroslav Vitouš Gary Valente Joe Lovano Ed Schuller Rufus Reid Name Authority File
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