Thomas H. Wells (born January 8, 1945, in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, and arts-organization administrator.

Biography

Thomas Wells began his formal composition studies at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

in 1960 with Kent Kennan and Clifton Williams. He received his

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

(1966) and

D.M.A. The doctor of musical arts (DMA) is a doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-level academic study in su ...

(1969) degrees from that institution, studying with Hunter Johnson. Wells founded the University of Texas Electronic Music Studio in 1967 and served as its director until 1975. He was accepted in

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

's Composition Studio in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

in 1968, and participated in the project ''

Musik für ein Haus ''Musik für ein Haus'' is a Classical music written in collaboration, group-composition project devised by Karlheinz Stockhausen for the 1968 Darmstädter Ferienkurse. Fourteen composers and twelve instrumentalists participated, with the resultin ...

''. Wells joined the faculty of the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

School of Music in 1976, and continues to teach there as Professor of Composition and Director of the Sound Synthesis Studios."Thomas Wells – Professor and Area Head, Composition"
Ohio State University School of Music In addition, he has served as guest professor and artist in residence at the

University of Novi Sad The University of Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Универзитет у Новом Саду, Univerzitet u Novom Sadu; ) is a public university in Novi Sad, Serbia. Alongside nationally prestigious University of Belgrade, University of Novi Sad is ...

(Serbia), Johannes Gutenberg University (Mainz), and

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

. His works have been performed throughout the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Korea, and by orchestras and ensembles such as the

Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District, Dallas, Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra tr ...

, Spokane Symphony, Columbus Symphony, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He has received grants and commissions from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Ohio Arts Council The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio. Its offices are in the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus, Ohio. History Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and as ...

, Ohio Humanities Council,

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts {{Short description, American arts agency in the state of Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to strengthen the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of P ...

, and the Texas Commission on the Arts. Wells received the Governor's Award in the State of Ohio for Outstanding Individual Artist in 1990. He hosted the 1984 Society of Composers National Conference (

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

, keynote speaker), and the 1989

International Computer Music Conference The International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) is a yearly international conference for computer music researchers and composers. It is the annual conference of the International Computer Music Association (ICMA). History In 1986, the Ins ...

, both at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He is active in the 1500-member Society of Composers, serving as its president from 2002 to the present.

Musical style and influences

Wells' instrumental music is strongly influenced by Varèse, Stockhausen,

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a Music genre, genre of Western art music in which composers use recording technology and audio signal processing to manipulate the timbres of Acoustics, acoustic sounds in the creation of pieces of music. It originated a ...

, and

spectral music Spectral music uses the acoustic properties of sound – or sound spectra – as a basis for composition. Definition Defined in technical language, spectral music is an acoustic musical practice where compositional decisions are often inform ...

Selected compositions

*''Tango Orillero'' for piano (2011) 4' *''Souvenirs/Resolutions'' for trumpet ensemble (2011) 10' *Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Saxophone Octet (2010) 14' *''Premonitions'' for alto saxophone, computer-generated sounds (2010) 13' *''Mersenne's Dream'' for alto saxophone, computer-generated sounds (2009) 11' *''Sechs

Trakl Georg Trakl (; 3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austria-Hungary, Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionism, Expressionists. He is perhaps best known fo ...

Gesänge'' for tenor, chorus, orchestra (2008) 45' *Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra (2005) 30' *''Ehlecatl'' for flute solo (2003) 7' *''Riflessioni for Chamber Orchestra'' (2003) 12' *''Voces Intimae'', electroacoustic music (2003) *''Kisa'', electroacoustic music (2002) 8' *''Aus tiefer Not'' for clarinet solo (2001) 7' *''Adieu'' for wind ensemble (1999) 14' *''Into Darkness'', electroacoustic music (1997) 7' *''Threnos'' for saxophone quartet, percussion (1997) 12' *Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra (1992) 28'

Discography

*Thomas Wells. 1987. ''11.2.72, Electronic Music''. CRI (LP), SD443 *Thomas Wells. 2002. ''Echoes from the Southern: A Ragtime Overture''. ''ProMusica: Live at the Southern''; ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus (CD 2001).

References

Sources *

External links