Alan Theisen (b. 4 October 1981; Port Huron, Michigan) is a graduate assistant in the Department of Music Theory at the University of Southern Mississippi. 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, Sardonic Suite, 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 Cadenza for solo flute and "...strange seas of Thought, alone" - a concerto for three instruments and wind ensemble. 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 the USM Symphonic Winds, the Sax-Chamber Orchestra, and the USM Flute Ensemble (in a performance of Reich's Vermont Counterpoint). In 2004, he served as a woodwind adjudicator for the All-South Music Institute's honor band.
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. Destined to become an annual event, Intégrales NMF features world-premiere performances by nationally recognized musicians. In the future, Intégrales will expand to include musical collaborations with artists, authors, and dancers.
Theisen wrote his undergraduate thesis on György Ligeti's Piano Etudes, and is planning a book of essays on the music of Alois Hába. Other interests include mathematics, film criticism, and classical 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 cats) in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
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Saturday, May 27, 2006
Quote of the Day
 "I always forget what a good composer John Phillip Sousa was!"
-- Elliott Carter
posted by Alan Theisen
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