Thomas Kotcheff | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Thomas Kotcheff |
Born | Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S. | October 14, 1988
Genres | Contemporary classical, film |
Occupation(s) | Composer, pianist |
Instrument(s) | Piano |
Years active | 2009–present |
Website | www |
Thomas Kotcheff (born 1988) is an American composer and pianist who currently resides in Los Angeles. He is a winner of a 2016 Charles Ives Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters [1] and a 2015 Presser Foundation Music Award. [2] He composed and orchestrated music for the soundtrack of the 2023 film Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan which won the Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards and the Best Original Score at the 96th Academy Awards.
Kotcheff was born in Wilmington, North Carolina and raised in Los Angeles, California. His parents are Laifun Chung and director Ted Kotcheff, and he has an older sister, Alexandra. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 4 and in 2006 he graduated from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. In 2010, Kotcheff completed a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and then attended USC Thornton School of Music from 2010 to 2019 where he received a Masters of Master of Music and a Doctor of Music in Music Composition. He studied composition with Stephen Hartke, Donald Crockett, Frank Ticheli, and Steven Stucky, and piano with Benjamin Pasternack and Stewart L. Gordon.
Kotcheff serves as Ear Training and Music Theory Faculty at the Colburn School [3] He is a teaching artist at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program. [4] Kotcheff has held residencies at Festival International d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence, [5] the Los Angeles Philharmonic's National Composers Intensive, [6] The Hermitage Artist Retreat, [7] The Studios of Key West, [8] and The Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. [9]
As a new music pianist, Kotcheff has dedicated himself to commissioning and premiering new piano works. [10] In 2020, his performance of Frederic Rzewski's Songs of Insurrection was awarded Best Instrumental Recital Performance in Los Angeles by San Francisco Classical Voice's Audience Choice Awards. [11] He released the world premiere recording of "Songs of Insurrection" on the Coviello Contemporary label. [12]
In 2014, Kotcheff founded the new music piano duo HOCKET with Sarah Gibson. [13] They are currently Core Artists with the Los Angeles organization Piano Spheres. [14]
Orchestral
Large ensemble
Chamber
| Solo
Vocal
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Kotcheff provided the score to the 2019 independent film The Planters. [19] Together with composer Ludwig Göransson, he co-wrote the tracks "Trinity" and "Something More Important" on the soundtrack of the 2023 film Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan. Together with composer Kris Bowers, he co-wrote the tracks "William Gracey", "It's Happy Hour Somewhere", and "Ghost Chase" on the soundtrack of the 2023 film Haunted Mansion by Justin Simien. Together with composer Kris Bowers, he co-wrote the track "Burning Books" in the 2023 film Origin by Ava DuVernay.
Frederic Anthony Rzewski was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social and political themes, include the minimalist Coming Together and the variation set The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, which has been called "a modern classic".
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Michael Kevin Daugherty is an American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic book-inspired Metropolis Symphony for Orchestra (1988–93), Dead Elvis for Solo Bassoon and Chamber Ensemble (1993), Jackie O (1997), Niagara Falls for Symphonic Band (1997), UFO for Solo Percussion and Orchestra (1999) and for Symphonic Band (2000), Bells for Stokowski from Philadelphia Stories for Orchestra (2001) and for Symphonic Band (2002), Fire and Blood for Solo Violin and Orchestra (2003) inspired by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Time Machine for Three Conductors and Orchestra (2003), Ghost Ranch for Orchestra (2005), Deus ex Machina for Piano and Orchestra (2007), Labyrinth of Love for Soprano and Chamber Winds (2012), American Gothic for Orchestra (2013), and Tales of Hemingway for Cello and Orchestra (2015). Daugherty has been described by The Times (London) as "a master icon maker" with a "maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear."
Randy Edelman is an American musician, producer, and composer for film and television. He began his career as a member of Broadway's pit orchestras; he later produced solo albums for songs that were picked up by leading music performers including The Carpenters, Barry Manilow, and Dionne Warwick. He is known for his work in comedy films. He has been awarded many prestigious awards along with two nominations for a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and twelve BMI Awards. Edelman was given an honorary doctorate in fine arts by the University of Cincinnati in 2004.
The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (1975) is a piano composition by American composer Frederic Rzewski. The People United is a set of 36 variations on the Chilean song "¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!" by Sergio Ortega and Quilapayún, and received its world premiere on February 7, 1976, played by Ursula Oppens as part of the Bi-Centennial Piano Series at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall. Rzewski dedicated the composition to Oppens, who had commissioned it, and who recorded it in 1979; her recording was named "Record of the Year" in that year by Record World, and received a Grammy nomination.
Christopher Chapman Rouse III was an American composer. Though he wrote for various ensembles, Rouse is primarily known for his orchestral compositions, including a Requiem, a dozen concertos, and six symphonies. His work received numerous accolades, including the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, the Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition, and the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He also served as the composer-in-residence for the New York Philharmonic from 2012 to 2015.
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Aaron Zigman is a classically-trained American composer, producer, arranger, songwriter, and musician who has scored music for films including The Notebook, The Company Men, Bridge to Terabithia, John Q., The Proposal, Flicka, For Colored Girls, Flash of Genius, Sex & the City, Alpha Dog, and Escape from Planet Earth. He has also written, arranged and produced over 50 hit albums, and co-written songs with legendary and contemporary artists including Quincy Jones, Christina Aguilera, Phil Collins, Was, John Legend, Dionne Warwick, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, and Seal.
Emilio Kauderer is an Argentine composer, orchestrator and songwriter residing in Los Angeles. He is best known for his scores for films including "Metegol (Underdogs)", "Secret in Their Eyes", and "A Place In the World". Kauderer won a Latin Grammy for his work on Bajofondo's 2002 album "Bajofondo Tango Club".
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Richard Keith Baitz is an American composer, born in 1954. His work incorporates elements of classical, jazz, electronic and world music, and has been extensively utilized for film, television, theatre, dance and the concert stage. He has also served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Vermont College of Fine Arts, and Columbia College Chicago, and is founding director of BMI’s "Composing for the Screen" workshop in New York City.
HOCKET is an American contemporary music piano duo that is based in Los Angeles, California. It consists of Sarah Gibson and Thomas Kotcheff. Established in 2014, HOCKET is currently a Piano Spheres core artist.