Alan Theisen (b. 4 October 1981; Port Huron, Michigan) is a Ph.D. graduate assistant in the Department of Music Theory at the Florida State University.
Composing since the age of sixteen, he has produced a steadily growing body of work distinguished by its musical energy and concentration of expression.
Representative works by Theisen include a Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, Variations on a Theme of Gretchaninov, Eclogue for flute, and the Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra (premiered by soloist Lawrence Gwozdz and the Szczecin Philharmonic in 2004). Recent compositions and commissions include Ritorno for flute and cello and a Triple Concerto. Noted composer Dimitri Terzakis commends Theisen's oeuvre as being "the product of a unique talent."
As a saxophonist, Theisen has toured the United States and Canada with the Sax-Chamber Orchestra, performing at two World Saxophone Congresses (Montreal - 2000, Minneapolis - 2003). He studied the instrument with internationally-recognized performer Lawrence Gwozdz and participated in masterclasses with famed saxophone pioneer Jean-Marie Londeix. No stranger to the podium, Theisen has been a guest conductor with several ensembles.
In an effort to showcase both his own original compositions and pieces by other contemporary composers, he founded the Intégrales New Music Festival in 2005. Now an annual event, Intégrales NMF features world-premiere performances by nationally recognized musicians. Intégrales has expanded to include musical collaborations with artists, authors, and dancers.
Theisen wrote his undergraduate thesis on György Ligeti's Piano Etudes, and has authored several papers on topics including Elliott Carter, film editing, composition as analysis, and Michael Brecker.
Other interests include mathematics, film criticism, and philosophy; in addition, Theisen has performed the role of Oberon in a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, for which he also wrote the incidental music.
Theisen lives with his wife (and puts up with their two cats) in Tallahassee, Florida.
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Friday, July 13, 2007
Back to Sequenza21
Hello fellow Sequenza21 campers!
First of all, let me apologize for my lack of participation over the past six months. I was busy with my first year of doctoral school at Florida State University, giving papers at three conferences, and composing several new works. I have gotten my account working again and plan on blogging regularly as I did when I began two years ago.
Here is the plan:
I am finishing a Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble to be premiered in December of this year (the score is due to the conductor in August). The piece is a re-orchestration of my earlier (2002) Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra; however, this new version will contain an additional fourth movement. Over the following weeks, I will blog about my successes and failures, hopes and frustrations encountered while composing a large-scale work with very little time on the clock.
Here I go....
Tune in next time for the first installment: "Why Another Movement?"
posted by Alan Theisen
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