THOMAS ADèS
Thomas Adès was born in London in 1971. Among his most well known works are Asyla (which won the 2000 Grawemeyer Prize), Living Toys, Arcadiana, and the opera Powder Her Face, televised by Channel Four and also recorded for EMI Classics, one of six EMI CDs devoted to his music on which the composer features as pianist and conductor.
His music has been programmed by many international orchestras and ensembles in over a dozen countries worldwide. He has received commissions from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Hallé, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta as well as Glyndebourne Opera and Royal Opera Covent Garden. A focus on his music at the 1999 Helsinki Musica Nova (in which seventeen of his works were played) appeared in the London Weekend Television Profile, relayed on Channel Four in December 1999. Adès has been Artistic Director to the Aldeburgh Festival since 1999. He has received many prestigious awards and prizes, among them the Grawemeyer 2000 Award for Asyla, of which he was the youngest-ever recipient. His second opera, The Tempest, was premiered to great critical acclaim at the Royal Opera House in February 2004 under the baton of the composer.
Adès' music has been performed recently at the Cabrillo Festival including his but all shall be well, Darkness Visible, and Concerto Concisco in 2003, Asyla in 2004, and America—A Prophecy in 2006. On August 11, 2007 the Festival will present his Concentric Paths (Yumi Hwang Williams, violin).