Douglas Townsend
Douglas Townsend, still actively composing at age 88, was born in New York City where in 1941 he was graduated from Manhattan's High School of Music and Art. While enrolled there, and at only 17 years of age, his "Contra Dances" won a nationwide contest for student composers and was performed by the CBS Symphony on a national radio broadcast (Bernard Herrmann conducting). As a young adult, Townsend privately studied composition with a succession of well-known composers: Tibor Serly, Stefan Wolpe, Aaron Copland (on a scholarship to Tanglewood), Otto Luening (on two scholarships to the Middlebury Composers' Conference), and Felix Greissle. Upon turning 24, he enjoyed early professional success when the concert pianist Ray Lev performed his "Sonatina No.1" in a sold-out recital at Carnegie Hall. He later attended SUNY Fredonia.In a career spanning seven decades, Townsend has composed symphonies, concertos, chamber and ballet music, film scores, and incidental music for theatrical productions. His vocal works include operas, operettas and choral music; and he has written extensively for wind ensembles and concert bands. He has been the recipient of numerous commissions and grants, including an '07 award from the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center, two '08 Meet the Composer awards (one from MTC, Inc. and one from MTC/New England),two ASCAPlus Awards for '08 and '09, and a grant in composition from the National Endowment for the Arts. Much of his work has been published (C.F.Peters, Carl Fischer, Theodore Presser, Boosey & Hawkes,Alfred, Shawnee, Tetra/Continuo), recorded, broadcast, performed and/or reviewed, as have his editions of over fifty compositions from the 18th and 19th centuries which he brought to light and prepared for performance with the aid of research grants to Europe (Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music, the New York State Bicentennial Revolution Commission, the New York State Council on the Arts).
Townsend's works and editions have been performed at the major venues in New York City: Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Town Hall, Weill Recital Hall ('07-'08 season), Carnegie (now Weill) Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Times Hall (now the Times Center), the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 92nd Street Y, Columbia University's McMillin (now Miller) Theatre, and Trinity Church ('08-'09 season). Some of the distinguished performers of his works and editions have included the soloists Gary Graffman, Jaime Laredo, Carol Wincenc ('09), Per Brevig, Stanley Drucker ('07-'08 season), Anthony Newman, Shirley Verrett; the choral groups the Metropolitan Opera Madrigal Singers, the Young People's Chorus of the City of New York, the Zamir Chorale, the Interracial Fellowship Chorus; and such premiere concert bands as the U.S. Marine Band, the Allentown Band ('06-'07 season), the Concord Band and Central Park's famed Goldman Band.
A variety of orchestras have performed Townsend's works and editions, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber Players ('06-'07 season), the Little Orchestra Society, the Clarion Concerts Orchestra, the Bronx Arts Ensemble Orchestra ('07-'08 season), the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (now the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia), the Oklahoma City Symphony (now Philharmonic) Orchestra, the Wichita Symphony, as well as the tri-state region's Ridgefield(CT) Symphony ('08-'09 season), Norwalk (CT) Symphony ('07-'08 season), New Haven (CT) Symphony ('08-'09 season), and the Garden State (NJ) Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, numerous university, college and youth orchestras, ensembles and concert bands have performed Townsend's works, including the universities of Texas, Illinois, California, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Iowa, Georgia, and Oregon State. Most recently (December '08), the Jugendorchester Freiamt [Youth Orchestra Freiamt] performed his "Fantasy on 'All the Pretty Little Horses' for String Orchestra" at Boswil, Switzerland.
As a musicologist, Townsend has researched and written over 500 program notes, record liner notes, reviews, and articles for publication, many for the Musical Heritage Society and its periodical, the Musical Heritage Society Review, where he was Editor from 1977 to 1980. Of current interest is the '08 publication by the University of Rochester Press of a book of essays on Carl Czerny entitled "Beyond the Art of Finger Dexterity," to which Townsend contributed a chapter analyzing Czerny's symphonies, concertos, and overtures. Townsend has a combined 15 years of experience teaching music history and theory at Brooklyn and Lehman colleges (CUNY) and at Purchase College (SUNY). He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Composition in the Music Department of the University of Bridgeport (CT), where he has taught for six years. As of July '09, he serves on the Concert Committee of the Manhattan-based Interfaith Committee of Remembrance. He resides in Manhattan.
E-mail Contact: douglas_t@classicalmatters.com
DOUGLAS'S PHOTO GALLERY
DOUGLAS'S VIDEOS
DOUGLAS TOWNSEND'S SITE AT AMERICAN MUSIC CENTER
DOUGLAS TOWNSEND'S SITE AT INSTANTENCORE
DOUGLAS TOWNSEND ON WIKIPEDIA
American Piano Duets by Ivory Crush (formerly d.u.o). Kenn Willson and Maria Choban, pianists. Music by P.D.Q. Bach, Douglas Townsend, and Tomas Svoboda. Released on the Alitisa label. CD available at Alitisa.
CD Releases
Gifts from three kings by Ivory Crush. Kenn Willson and Maria Choban, pianists. Music by Douglas Townsend, Vincent Persichettis, and Norman Dello Jolo. Released on the Alitisa label. CD available at Alitisa.
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