Richard Festinger
Encyclopedia
Richard Festinger is an American composer, born in Newton, Massachusetts
1 March 1948, currently living in Richmond CA. Festinger was the founding director of the Earplay ensemble based in the Bay Area. He has been a resident artist at the MacDowell Colony, Camargo Foundation, Cité Internationale des Arts, Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation
Bellagio Study Center, the The Ligurian Study Center in Bogliasco
, Italy, Fundación Valparaíso, Mojácar, Almeria
, Spain, Ucross Foundation
Centre International d’Accueil et d’Échanges des Récollets, the Aaron Copland House
, the Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus, and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing
. He was commissioned by the Fromm Foundation in 2003 to compose his work Hidden Spring for the Cygnus Ensemble. Also in 2003 Works and Process at the Guggenheim commissioned and premiered his settings of poet/author Denis Johnson
, The Coming of Age with Amy Burton soprano and The Group for Contemporary Music conducted by Bradley Lubman.. In 2009 pianist Marilyn Nonken toured with Festinger's large scale piano solo, Le Pianiste.
Early in his career Festinger played guitar and toured with folk singer Joan Baez
including a performance at Woodstock. Shortly afterwards, intent on pursuing a performing career in jazz, he attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where he studied composition with Herb Pomeroy
and improvisation with Gary Burton
. Returning to San Francisco in 1972 he performed extensively for several years as a jazz guitarist while pursuing a growing interest in classical music and composition. Festinger received his B.A. from San Francisco State and later his M.A. from the University of California in Berkeley where he worked with Andrew Imbrie
. Festinger is Professor of Theory and Composition at San Francisco State University
, where he is also the Artistic Director, Morrison Artists Chamber Music Series,
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
1 March 1948, currently living in Richmond CA. Festinger was the founding director of the Earplay ensemble based in the Bay Area. He has been a resident artist at the MacDowell Colony, Camargo Foundation, Cité Internationale des Arts, Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
Bellagio Study Center, the The Ligurian Study Center in Bogliasco
Bogliasco
Bogliasco is a comune in the Province of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about 11 km southeast of Genoa. Together with the comuni of Camogli, Recco, Pieve Ligure and Sori, it is part of the so-called Golfo Paradiso...
, Italy, Fundación Valparaíso, Mojácar, Almeria
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
, Spain, Ucross Foundation
Centre International d’Accueil et d’Échanges des Récollets, the Aaron Copland House
Aaron Copland House
The Aaron Copland House, also known as Rock Hill or Copland House, is on Washington Street in Cortlandt Manor, New York, United States. It was built in the 1940s and was the home of composer Aaron Copland for the last 30 years of his life...
, the Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus, and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. He was commissioned by the Fromm Foundation in 2003 to compose his work Hidden Spring for the Cygnus Ensemble. Also in 2003 Works and Process at the Guggenheim commissioned and premiered his settings of poet/author Denis Johnson
Denis Johnson
Denis Hale Johnson is an American author who is known for his short-story collection Jesus' Son and his novel Tree of Smoke , which won the National Book Award. He also writes plays, poetry and non-fiction.- Biography :...
, The Coming of Age with Amy Burton soprano and The Group for Contemporary Music conducted by Bradley Lubman.. In 2009 pianist Marilyn Nonken toured with Festinger's large scale piano solo, Le Pianiste.
Early in his career Festinger played guitar and toured with folk singer Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
including a performance at Woodstock. Shortly afterwards, intent on pursuing a performing career in jazz, he attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where he studied composition with Herb Pomeroy
Herb Pomeroy
Irving Herbert "Herb" Pomeroy, III was an influential swing and bebop jazz trumpeter and educator...
and improvisation with Gary Burton
Gary Burton
Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
. Returning to San Francisco in 1972 he performed extensively for several years as a jazz guitarist while pursuing a growing interest in classical music and composition. Festinger received his B.A. from San Francisco State and later his M.A. from the University of California in Berkeley where he worked with Andrew Imbrie
Andrew Imbrie
Andrew Welsh Imbrie was an American composer of contemporary classical music.-Career:Imbrie was born in New York on April 6, 1921, and began his musical training as a pianist when he was 4. In 1937, he went to Paris to study briefly with Nadia Boulanger...
. Festinger is Professor of Theory and Composition at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
, where he is also the Artistic Director, Morrison Artists Chamber Music Series,
Compositions
- To a Pilgrim (2011) bass clarinet and cello
- Spring Ice (2010) soprano and violin, on 12 century Japanese poems
- Enchainement (2009) for solo viola
- Le Pianiste (2009) solo piano three pieces after paintings of Roberto MattaRoberto MattaRoberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren , better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art....
- Equinox (2009) for clarinet and small orchestra
- Legerdemain (2008) solo percussion, hand drums
- Insect Voices (2008) soprano & 4 players
- The Locust Tree (2007) chorus-SATB (text William Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
) - Concerto for Piano and Nine Instruments (2007)
- Between Thought and Thing (2006) for eight players
- The Way Things Go (2006) flute, piano
- From The Beginning (2005) String Quartet No. 2
- A Machine for Interpreting Dreams’’ (2005) for four players
- Hidden Spring (2004) for six players
- Laws of Motion (2004) for five players
- Diary of a Journey (2003) for six players
- The Coming of Age (2003) text: Denis JohnsonDenis JohnsonDenis Hale Johnson is an American author who is known for his short-story collection Jesus' Son and his novel Tree of Smoke , which won the National Book Award. He also writes plays, poetry and non-fiction.- Biography :...
soprano and six players - a dream foretold (2001) for four players
- Construction in Metal and Wood (2001) percussion and piano
- Crossfire (2000) two percussion
- Peripeteia (1999) clarinet, violin and cello
- On the Lightness of the Moon (1998) clarinet, violin, viola and piano
- After Blue (1998) flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion, 1998
- Dajunso Ma Dor Da Duca (1997) nine-part chorus
- Tapestries (1997) violin, cello and piano, 1997
- Windsongs (1996) flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn
- Trionometry (1996) flute, clarinet and piano, 1996
- Violuminescence (1995) violin solo and chamber orchestra, 1995
- Twinning (1994) violin and piano, 1994
- String Quartet No.1 (1994)
- A Serenade for Six (1993) flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion
- Smokin' with Cocuswood (1992) oboe, string quartet and piano
- Head over Heels (1992) solo electronic keyboard with computer
- Three Little Piano Pieces (1992)
- Octet (1991) - flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello and piano
- Sonata for Cello and Piano (1990)
- Variations for Piano (1988)
- Septet (1987) - flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano and percussion
- Impromptu(1985) clarinet and piano
- Letters and the Weather of Six Mornings (1984) soprano and piano
- Paysages Modernes (1983) large orchestra
- Song: Beauty is a Shell from the Sea (1981) SATB with flute, oboe, bass clarinet, horn, string quartet, harp and quitar
- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1980)
- Triptych (1979) solo flute
- Matin (1978) CD
- Ontogenesis (1978) flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano
- Avian Landscapes (1987) CD
- In Delirium of Sunrise (1977) string quartet
- Cheville (1976) large orchestra
- Divertimento (1976) oboe, clarinet, violin and cello
- Movements for Guitar (1976)
- Prelude for Guitar (1971)
Recordings
- Music of Richard Festinger. New Millenium Ensemble. Bridge Records 9245
- Richard Festinger: Tapestries and Other Works. Laurel Trio, Earplay, Curtis Macomber. New World/CRI NWCR832
- A Serenade for Six. New Millenium Ensemble. New World/CRI NWCR772
- Septet**, the Earplay ensemble, Centaur CD 2274
- Triptych, Samuel Baron, flute, Contemporary Recording Studios vinyl LP CRS 8738
- Various tracks, Joan Baez, One Day at a Time, Vanguard Records
- Live at Pangaea, volumes I and II, Independent Records, San Rafael, CA, vinyl LPs