Gloria Coates*

Gloria Coates began composing at an early age, winning a National Federation of Music Clubs Composition Contest at the age of twelve. Several years later, Alexander Tcherepnin became her mentor, encouraging her in composition until his death in 1977. After earning a M.M. in composition at Louisiana State University, she continued postgraduate studies at Columbia University with Otto Luening and Jack Beeson. She has been the recipient of many awards and commissions, and her music has been performed by the Kronos Quartet, the Kreuzer Quartet, the London Sinfonia, Brooklyn Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, and many others. While maintaining a residence in the U.S., the composer has lived in Europe since 1969, where she is an active champion of American music. She has lectured, written musicological articles, and produced and broadcast radio programs. Having a love of painting as well as music, her art can be seen on some of the CD covers of her music. An exhibit of her paintings was presented in January 2004 in Erding, Germany, with a concert that included Piano Sonata No. 2, Night Music for saxophone, gong, and piano and Emily Dickinson Songs. Indian Sounds was selected for the 30-year celebration of the Millay Colony from January to September 2004 at the Albany International Airport Museum. She has a commission for an orchestral work for the Passau (Germany) Festival, June 2006. You may read more about her compositions online at AMC.net/member/gloria_coates/home.html and home.wanadoo.nl/eli.ichie/coates.html. Email: gloricoates@yahoo.com.

Premieres

The Munich Chamber Orchestra, directed by Christoph Poppen, premiered Symphony No. 14 on October 23, 2003. Also in 2003, Lyric Suite No. 2 for flute, cello, and piano was introduced by the Trio Ascolta in Munich, and Mirage for baritone, flute, cello, and piano was presented in the Schloss Theatre, Potsdam, Germany, with additional performances at Bayreuth Opera House, Bayreuth; Salle Gaveau in Paris; Wurzburg’s Kaisersaal, Schloss Schoenbrunn in Vienna, Austria; Cuvillies Theater in Munich; Theatro da Paz in Belem, Brazil; and Theater of the Amazon in Manaus, Brazil. 2004 premieres include Lyric Suite No. 3 for violin, flute, and piano, Munich, Germany; The Books for solo piano, Frankfurt, Germany; Abraham Lincoln’s Cooper Union Address at the Great Hall of Cooper Union, New York City; and Entering the Unknown, for piano, string quartet, and video, Cooper Union, New York City.

Performances

Reaching for the Moon was performed July 27, 2003, by flutist Edmund Waechter at the Hindemith Center, Blonay, Switzerland, and by Sharon Bezaly on July 30, 2003, in Soermland, Sweden. The Munich Flute Ensemble presented Blue Steel Bent for 10 flutists at the New Music Festival, with Romanian Radio, Bucharest, Romania, May 24, 2003. On March 21, 2004, Bozzini Quartet performed String Quartet No. 5 at the Berlin Festival. In 2004, Tones in Overtones for piano was heard in two performances at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, by Stephen Gosling on October 24 and Margaret Mills on December 7. On March 31, 2005, Crash Ensemble performed String Quartet No. 6 in Dublin, Ireland, and on November 9, 2005, the Talisker Players presented Voices of Women in Wartime in Toronto, Canada.

Recordings

Eight String Quartets, Naxos, 2002-2004. Vocal-Orchestral Music, New World Records, 2003. Breaking Through for Flute Solo; Sharon Bezaly, BIS, 2004. Commissioned Piece, Sonata for Violin Solo for Andreas Lucke, Cavalli Records, 2004. In 2006, Naxos will be issuing a third CD with Symphonies 1, 7, and 14.

Further Information

• SAI's Composers Bureau Online