Matthew Tommasini (b.1978) is a nationally recognized composer of expressive and engaging music. Awards for his work include the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, first prize in the ASCAP/SCI Commission Competition, two ASCAPlus Awards, and grants from the ASCAP Foundation's Leonard Bernstein Fund, the Puffin Foundation, Ltd., and the American Music Center's Composer Assistance Program (CAP). His work Three Spanish Songs (for soprano and chamber wind ensemble) was commissioned by Michael Haithcock and the University of Michigan Symphony Band and awarded the ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize. The work will soon be published as part of the Donald Hunsberger Wind Library by Alfred Publishing.
Mr. Tommasini has been commissioned by the New York Youth Symphony, the Milwaukee Ballet, ASCAP/SCI, the University of Michigan Symphony Band, and the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings/Oberlin Conservatory/University of Michigan Consortium. His New York Youth Symphony commission piece Torn Threads Rewoven was premiered at Carnegie Hall and reviewed in the New York Times. In addition, his works have been performed at the American Composers Orchestra Underwood Reading Sessions, the Riverside Symphony Reading Sessions, and by the Ann Arbor Symphony.
Currently, Mr. Tommasini is composer-in-residence with the Chicago-based chamber music series Music in the Loft. The season includes performances of his works by the Cleveland Quartet Award-winning Parker Quartet, associate concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony, Gary Levinson, and the premiere of a new work by Antares commissioned by Music in the Loft. He is also working on a chamber winds consortium commission from the Big East Band Directors Association and a recording of his complete works entitled American Perspectives by violinist Martha Walvoord will soon be released on the Centaur Records label.
Matthew Tommasini received his BA degree in composition from UCLA, where he studied with Paul Chihara and Ian Krouse. He received his MA and DMA degrees from the University of Michigan where he studied with William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty, Bright Sheng, Leslie Bassett, and Evan Chambers. Mr. Tommasini is a member of ASCAP.
Update 12/08
