Matthew Aucoin Explained

Matthew Aucoin
Birth Date:4 April 1990

Matthew Aucoin (born April 4, 1990) is an American composer, conductor, pianist, and writer best known for his operas. Aucoin has received commissions from the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the American Repertory Theater, the Peabody Essex Museum, Harvard University, and NPR's This American Life.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] He was appointed as Los Angeles Opera's first-ever Artist-in-Residence in 2016.[8] He is a 2018 MacArthur Fellow.[9]

Biography

Aucoin was born and raised in the Boston area. While attending Medfield High School,[10] Aucoin was the keyboardist in an indie rock band, Elephantom.[11] He attended Harvard College, where he studied poetry, graduating summa cum laude in 2012. His mentors at Harvard included Jorie Graham and Helen Vendler. While an undergraduate, Aucoin conducted productions of Die Fledermaus and Le Nozze di Figaro with the Dunster House Opera Society, now known as Harvard College Opera.

Aucoin then received a graduate diploma from The Juilliard School, where he studied with composer Robert Beaser. Concurrently, he served as an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. Between 2013 and 2015, Aucoin was the Solti Conducting Apprentice at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra,[12] where he studied with Riccardo Muti. In 2013, he received commissions from the American Repertory Theater for the opera Crossing,[13] based on Walt Whitman's Civil War diaries, and from Lyric Opera of Chicago for the children's opera Second Nature.[14] Both operas had their premieres in 2015.

In 2015 and 2016, a number of Aucoin's chamber and orchestral works had their premieres, including Evidence at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra;[15] his Piano Concerto, featuring pianist Conor Hanick and the Alabama Symphony;[16] the song cycle Merrill Songs, premiered by tenor Paul Appleby at Carnegie Hall with the composer at the piano;[17] and the violin sonata Its Own Accord,[18] premiered by violinist Keir GoGwilt.

In 2016, Aucoin was appointed Artist-in-Residence at Los Angeles Opera. Between 2016 and 2020, Aucoin conducted a number of productions in Los Angeles, including Verdi's Rigoletto,[19] Philip Glass's Akhnaten,[20] and his own operas Crossing[21] and Eurydice.[22]

Co-written with librettist Sarah Ruhl, Aucoin's opera Eurydice was co-commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera and the Los Angeles Opera. It had its world premiere in Los Angeles in February 2020, conducted by the composer and starring Danielle de Niese. Eurydice had its Met premiere in November 2021, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and starring Erin Morley.[23]

In 2017, Aucoin co-founded the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC) together with the director Zack Winokur.[24] Aucoin has also written instrumental music for such artists and ensembles as The Philadelphia Orchestra,[25] the pianist Kirill Gerstein,[26] the Brentano Quartet,[27] the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra,[28] tenor Paul Appleby, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo,[29] Zurich's Tonhalle Orchestra, and Chanticleer. He has appeared as a conductor with the Los Angeles Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony, and many other ensembles.

As a writer, Aucoin is a frequent contributor of musical criticism and other writings to The New York Review of Books,[30] among other publications. His debut book, The Impossible Art was published in 2021 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.[31]

List of works

Opera

Orchestral

Chamber music

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cooper . Michael . The Met's Commissioning Program Is Starting to Bear Operas . . October 8, 2013 . June 5, 2015.
  2. Web site: Rotella . Carlo . Matthew Aucoin, Opera's Great 25-Year-Old Hope . . May 27, 2015 . June 5, 2015.
  3. Web site: Huizenga . Tom . MacArthur Fellow Matthew Aucoin Talks Composing And Donating His 'Genius' Money . . October 4, 2018. October 9, 2018.
  4. Web site: Shea . Andrea . A 25-Year-Old Opera Composer Who Does It All . Deceptive Cadence . . June 4, 2015 . June 5, 2015.
  5. Web site: Gamerman . Ellen . Portrait of a Prodigy: Is Matthew Aucoin the Next Leonard Bernstein? . . July 17, 2014 . June 5, 2015.
  6. Web site: Gay . Malcolm . Musical wunderkind Aucoin is a star in ascendancy: Composer. Poet. Conductor. There doesn't seem to be much that Medfield's Matthew Aucoin can't do. . . May 10, 2015 . June 5, 2015.
  7. Dimock . Wai Chee . Walt Whitman and the Essence of Opera . . June 4, 2015 . June 5, 2015.
  8. Web site: LA Opera - Matthew Aucoin. www.laopera.org. 2016-06-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20160524035228/http://www.laopera.org/company/Matthew-Aucoin/. 2016-05-24. dead.
  9. News: MacArthur 'Genius' Grant Winners for 2018: The Full List. Sopan. Deb. The New York Times . Oct 4, 2018. Mar 22, 2019. NYTimes.com.
  10. Web site: MacArthur 'genius' Matthew Aucoin grew up in Natick, attended Rivers School. Nancy. Olesin. Wicked Local. Mar 22, 2019.
  11. Web site: Elephantom. SoundCloud. Mar 22, 2019.
  12. Web site: Matthew Aucoin puts composing ahead of his roles as conductor or pianist - CSO Sounds & Stories . 2022-04-22 . csosoundsandstories.org.
  13. Web site: Crossing A.R.T. . 2022-04-22 . americanrepertorytheater.org . en-US.
  14. Web site: Second Nature Lyric Opera of Chicago . 2022-04-22 . www.lyricopera.org . en.
  15. Web site: 2016-05-15 . Review: Matthew Aucoin's 'Evidence' is evidence of a young composer on the rise . 2022-04-22 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  16. Web site: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Matthew Aucoin . 2022-04-22 . www.wisemusicclassical.com . en.
  17. News: Tommasini . Anthony . 2016-03-17 . Review: Paul Appleby Performs 'Merrill Songs' . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-04-22 . 0362-4331.
  18. Web site: Violin Sonata: Its Own Accord Matthew Aucoin . 2022-04-22 . www.wisemusicclassical.com . en.
  19. Web site: Rigoletto LA Opera . 2022-04-22 . www.laopera.org . en.
  20. Web site: From the Vaults: Philip Glass with Artist in Residence Matthew Aucoin LA Opera . 2022-04-22 . www.laopera.org . en.
  21. Web site: Crossing LA Opera . 2022-04-22 . www.laopera.org . en.
  22. Web site: Eurydice LA Opera . 2022-04-22 . www.laopera.org . en.
  23. Web site: Eurydice . 2022-04-22 . www.metopera.org . en.
  24. Web site: ABOUT . 2022-04-22 . AMOC . en-US.
  25. Web site: World Premiere of new Eurydice Suite by Matthew Aucoin . 2022-04-22 . www.wisemusicclassical.com . en.
  26. Web site: 2022 Gilmore Piano Festival: 2010 Gilmore Artist Kirill Gerstein . 2022-04-22 . The Gilmore . en-US.
  27. Web site: Brentanos Premiere Matthew Aucoin String Quartet . 2022-04-22 . www.wisemusicclassical.com . en.
  28. Web site: Philharmonia Baroque and AMOC debut Matthew Aucoin's 'The No One's Rose' . 2022-04-22 . www.wisemusicclassical.com . en.
  29. News: Grode . Eric . 2017-07-10 . Anthony Roth Costanzo Exists to Transform Opera . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-04-22 . 0362-4331.
  30. Web site: Matthew Aucoin . 2022-04-22 . The New York Review of Books . en.
  31. Web site: The Impossible Art . 2022-04-22 . Macmillan . en-US.
  32. News: Eurydice: A Myth for Modern Times. Alspaugh. Leann Davis. Performances Magazine.
  33. Web site: Shia . Jonathan . Matt Aucoin . The Last Magazine . September 25, 2017. October 9, 2018.
  34. Web site: Forstman . Edward . ASO Premieres Aucoin Concerto This Weekend . artsBHAM . October 6, 2016 . February 23, 2017.

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