Augusta Read Thomas (born 1964)
Augusta Read Thomas was born in Glen Cove, New York. She began piano at the age of 4 and trumpet in 3rd grade. Her piano teacher persuaded her to try her hand at composing. She later studied composition at Yale, Northwestern University, and the Royal Academy of Music.
She has composed music for choruses, orchestras, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments, particularly violin, cello, and piano. Her music is informed by an eclectic array of influences, including Bach, Mahler, Debussy, Berg, Stravinsky, Duke Ellington, and John Coltrane.
Her music can sound austere on first encounter, but within the gloriously dissonant textures are quite lyrical underpinnings making for compositions that are consistently fascinating.
This four-movement string quartet from 1997 is called Sun Threads. At the end, the composer appears on stage with the musicians.
This video of Augusta Read Thomas’s 2017 work Plea for Peace for soprano and string quartet begins with some remarks by the composer and a few words from the soprano. The music begins around 2:55.