Orchestra

Blue Earth CD released by BMOP/sound

Our latest release brings one of our favorite bi-coastal collaborators to BMOP/sound. Composer Donald Crockett is tuned into the maze of rhythms, cycles, and energy that makes the natural world tick, and has an otherworldly talent at turning those nuances into orchestral music that bursts with vibrancy and motion.

The disc opens with Wedge, inspired by surf off of Newport Beach, California, and full of the beautiful, fluid power of the ocean. Blue Earth frames the intimate eloquence of solo voices with the full-blown grandeur of a symphonic work, its inspiration the quiet intelligence of the interlocking ecosystems of our magnificent planet. Crockett hones in on a single, personal voice in his Viola Concerto, in which violist extraordinaire Kate Vincent swoops, glides, and races through a lively, playful soundscape.

More information and track samples

KUSC interview with audio clips

American Academy of Arts and Letters citation

Donald Crockett’s music dwells in a special realm of energetic grace, subtly nuanced emotional force, and sensuous melody. From the athleticism of Wedge for orchestra, the spirited dance rhythms of the septet Whistling in the Dark, the unabashedly erotic setting of Michael Ondaatje’s The Cinnamon Peeler, the inward musings of The Falcon’s Eye for guitar, to the psychological mysteries of his opera, The Face, Donald Crockett’s work engages both his players and his audiences with its compellingly sustained beauty.

Opera

THE FACE, Donald Crockett’s chamber opera, premieres in Los Angeles and Boston to Critical Acclaim.

The music is a treasure chest of sounds, intimate effects and bursts of lyrical beauty which sometimes provide background and often participate in the musical dialogue; the book delivers poetry that travels along synapses of the English language directly into private recesses of the heart. The production has a great sense of physical proportion and uses its simple set of materials even on a sparse stage to very great effect. — Huffington Post

More information at http://www.thefaceopera.com.

Photos:

  • The Face — rehearsal
  • The Face — rehearsal
  • The Face — rehearsal
  • The Face — rehearsal
  • The Face — rehearsal
Click for slideshow

Upcoming events

'Fanfare Studies' featured on Thibaut Garcia international tour |
2016 - 2017

This season, Guitar Foundation of America 2015 International Competition first prize winner Thibaut Garcia will perform Donald Crockett's Fanfare Studies -  commissioned as the set piece for the competition held in Oklahoma City in June 2015 - on a 60-concert international tour.  Thibaut Garcia's performance of Fanfare Studies at the competition finals was, in a word, phenomenal.  Stay tuned for specific concert dates as the tour unfolds.

'Night Scenes' on Fifth House Ensemble's touring season |
2016 - 2017

Donald Crockett's piano trio, Night Scenes, will be featured in the touring repertory of Chicago's outstanding new music group, Fifth House Ensemble, during its 2016-17 concert season.  Details of specific concerts to follow.

Thornton Edge in music of Joan Tower, Timo Andres, Sean Friar and Harrison Birtwistle |
October 5, 2016

Donald Crockett conducts his USC new music ensemble, Thornton Edge, in classic works by Joan Tower (Breakfast Rhythms I and II), and Harrison Birtwistle (Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum), together with recent music by Timo Andres and Thornton faculty composer, Sean Friar.  Newman Recital Hall, USC campus, 7:30 pm. 

New Music for Orchestra |
October 14, 2014

Donald Crockett conducts the USC Thornton Symphony in the annual New Music for Orchestra program premiering outstanding Thornton composition students' works.  The program includes music by Peter Shin, Ryan McWilliams, Georgi Dimitrov, Bryan Curt Kostors, Thomas Mellan and Julia Adolphe.

String Quartet No. 3 'Cortege' premieres with Dilijan at Colburn |
October 16, 2016

The wonderful Dilijan Chamber Music Series, presented by the Lark Musical Society, has commissioned Donald Crockett for a new string quartet to be premiered in the 2016/17 season on a concert including music by Haydn (Emperor Quartet) and Beethoven (Archduke Trio).  The world premiere of String Quartet No. 3 Cortege will take place on the Dilijan subscription series concert at 3pm on Sunday, October 16 in Zipper Hall of the Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles.

Kate Vincent plays 'to airy thinness beat' with Thornton Edge |
March 1, 2017

Kate Vincent is the soloist in Donald Crockett's to airy thinness beat, a chamber concerto for viola and six instruments, with Thornton Edge conducted by the composer.  Also on the program is Jeffrey Holmes' Hagall for large ensemble, commissioned by New York's Talea Ensemble.  Newman Recital Hall, USC campus, 7:30 pm.

Thornton Edge |
April 12, 2017

Donald Crockett leads Thornton Edge including recent music from China, Korea and Japan.  Newman Recital Hall, USC campus, 7:30 pm.

ACE at the Aspen Music Festival |
June 25 - July 16, 2017

Donald Crockett returns to the Aspen Music Festival and School in Summer 2017 to lead the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble (ACE) for the first three weeks of the festival in concerts and reading sessions.  Detailed schedule to follow.

Caramoor Festival commission for a new string quartet for the Argus Quartet |
July 14, 2017

The Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts has commissioned Donald Crockett for a new string quartet (title to be determined), his fourth, on behalf of the Argus Quartet, Caramoor's 2016-17 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence.  The new quartet will be premiered at Caramoor's 2017 Summer Season on the evening of July 14.

More information about events