Thomas Buckner (born 1941) is an American baritone vocalist specializing in the performance of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included se ...

and

improvised music Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous ...

. In his work, he utilizes a wide range of extended (non-traditional) vocal techniques. Buckner also works as a concert promoter; in Berkeley,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, he founded the 1750 Arch Concerts, which presented over 100 musical events per year for eight years. He also founded the record label

1750 Arch Records 1750 Arch Records was an independent record label that focused on experimental and avant garde music, jazz, and classical music. History The label, named after the company's address in Berkeley, California, was founded in 1974 by vocalist Thomas ...

, which released more than 50 LPs. Also in Berkeley, he co-led the 23-member Arch Ensemble. He operates the record label

Mutable Music In object-oriented and functional programming, an immutable object (unchangeable object) is an object whose state cannot be modified after it is created.Goetz et al. ''Java Concurrency in Practice''. Addison Wesley Professional, 2006, Section 3. ...

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Buckner has performed with

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figures ...

Gerald Oshita Gerald Oshita (1942–1992) was an American musician, composer, and sound recordist. Oshita, who was of Japanese ancestry, lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and specialized in unusual wind instruments, particularly those of especially low reg ...

Phill Niblock Phill Niblock (born October 2, 1933 in Anderson, Indiana) is an American composer, filmmaker, videographer, and director of Experimental Intermedia,Alan Licht, ''Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020'', Blank Forms ...

Borah Bergman Borah Bergman (December 13, 1926 – October 18, 2012) was an American free jazz pianist. Training and influences Bergman was born in Brooklyn to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents.Kelsey, Chris (December 2004Chris Kelsey ''Borah Bergman: His F ...

, David Darling,

Gustavo Aguilar Gustavo Aguilar Tejada (died 24 September 2007) was a Mexican actor and former professional wrestler known as ''El Manotas''. Life Wrestling led to acting roles and he joined the National Association of Actors (ANDA) in 1986. He was primarily know ...

Wu Man Wu Man (; b. Hangzhou, Zhejiang, January 2, 1963) is a Chinese pipa player and composer. Trained in Pudong-style pipa performance at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, she is known for playing in a broad range of musical styles and i ...

, and

Earl Howard Earl Howard (born 1951) is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, saxophonist, synthesizer player and multi-instrumentalist. Howard is one of the pioneers of what is called “new” music. He has been in the industry for over thirty y ...

. More than 70 composers have created works for him; these include

Robert Ashley Robert Reynolds Ashley (March 28, 1930 – March 3, 2014) was an American composer, who was best known for his television operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques. His works often involv ...

Noah Creshevsky Noah Creshevsky (January 31, 1945 – December 3, 2020) was a composer and electronic musician born in Rochester, New York. He used the term hyperrealism to describe his work. Biography Trained in composition by Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Lucia ...

Alvin Lucier Alvin Augustus Lucier Jr. (May 14, 1931 – December 1, 2021) was an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University in M ...

Annea Lockwood Annea Lockwood (born July 29, 1939, in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born American composer and academic musician. She taught electronic music at Vassar College. Her work often involves recordings of natural found sounds. She has ...

Bun-Ching Lam Lam Bun-Ching (; b. Macau, 1954) is a Chinese American composer, pianist, and conductor. Early life and training Lam holds a B.A. degree in piano performance from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (1976). She obtained a scholarship from the U ...

Morton Subotnick Morton Subotnick (born April 14, 1933) is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his 1967 composition '' Silver Apples of the Moon'', the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch. He was one of the f ...

Jerome Cooper Jerome Douglas Cooper (December 14, 1946 – May 6, 2015) was an American free jazz musician. In addition to trap drums, Cooper played balafon, chirimia and various electronic instruments, and referred to himself as a "multi-dimensional drummer, ...

, David Wessel, Tom Hamilton, Leroy Jenkins,

Wadada Leo Smith Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for '' Ten Fr ...

Biography

Buckner is a grandson of International Business Machines founder

Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Thomas John Watson Sr. (February 17, 1874 – June 19, 1956) was an American businessman who served as the chairman and CEO of IBM. He oversaw the company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956. Watson developed IBM's manageme ...

In the early 1970s, while his uncle

John N. Irwin, II John Nichol Irwin II (December 31, 1913 – February 28, 2000) was an American diplomat and attorney during the Cold War. During World War II, he served in the Army in the Pacific as a member of General Douglas MacArthur's staff and reached the ra ...

served as the U.S. Ambassador to France, Buckner was one of approximately 500 left-leaning Americans on Richard Nixon's so-called "

enemies list "Nixon's Enemies List" is the informal name of what started as a list of President of the United States Richard Nixon's major political opponents compiled by Charles Colson, written by George T. Bell (assistant to Colson, special counsel to the ...

." He grew up in

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and has lived in New York City since 1983. His wife is the

bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

dancer Kamala Cesar, whom he married in 199

He is the brother of painter

Walker Buckner Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) * Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California ...

and children's advocate

Elizabeth Buckner Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

. Buckner is an alumnus of the

Music Academy of the West The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California. Overview The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...

, where he attended in 1970.

Discography

With

Muhal Richard Abrams Muhal Richard Abrams (born Richard Lewis Abrams; September 19, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium. He recorded and toured the Uni ...

*''

The Visibility of Thought ''The Visibility of Thought'' is an album of contemporary classical compositions by Muhal Richard Abrams performed by various ensembles which was released on the Mutable Music label in 2001. The album features performances by Abrams, Jon Deak, Jo ...

'' (Mutable, 2001) With

*''

Alone, Together, Apart ''Alone, Together, Apart'' is a live album by percussionist Jerome Cooper and vocalist Thomas Buckner. It was recorded in April 2002 at Lotus Music and Dance Studio in New York City, and was released by Mutable Music in 2003. Reception In an revi ...

'' (Mutable, 2003) With

*'' 8 O'Clock: Two Improvisations'' (Mutable, 2001) *''

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers ca ...

'' (

RogueArt RogueArt (also written Rogueart and Rogue Art) is a French independent record label based in Paris. It was founded by record producer Michel Dorbon in 2005 and specialises in jazz and improvised music. History RogueArt was founded by record p ...

, 2011)

References

External links

Thomas Buckner official site
by Sybil Fix, from ''The Post and Courier'' (Charleston, South Carolina), June 7, 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckner, Thomas American operatic baritones 1941 births Living people Contemporary classical music performers Place of birth missing (living people) Santa Clara University alumni Music Academy of the West alumni RogueArt artists