THE LIVING COMPOSERS PROJECT  

Howard Jonathan Fredrics

(b. 1962, New York, New York).

American composer of mostly orchestral, chamber and electroacoustic works that have been performed in Europe and North America.

Mr. Fredrics studied composition with Randolph Coleman, Richard Hoffmann and Joseph Wood and electronic music with Conrad Cummings and Gary Lee Nelson at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and graduated with a BMus in composition in 1985. He then studied composition with Donald Grantham, Karl Korte and Russell Pinkston at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his MMus in 1991 and his DMA in 1998. He also studied at the Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm and composition with William Brunson at the Kungliga Musikhögskolan – Royal College of Music in Stockholm, both in 1992–93, as well as composition with Mario Davidovsky at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida in 1995.

Among his honours are the ASCAP Young Composers Award (1982), the ASCAP Special Award annually since 1992, an Emmy Award (1993), the Prix du Jury in the Concours International de Musique Électroacoustique de Bourges (1993), an award from the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (1994), and a Telly Award (1994). He later received the Musica Nova Special Prize (1995), Third Prize in the competition of the Tampa Bay Composers Forum (1995) and the Premio della giuria in the competition Luigi Russolo in Varese (1998).

He is also active in other positions. He has led Auracle Publications since 1987, which specialises in commercial music, and has served as director of the Sarus Ensemble in Texas since 1993.

He taught at the University of Texas at Austin in 1988–89 and in 1993–94, at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1991–92, where he also taught summer sessions from 1986–91, at the Austin Community College District in 1995–96, at Western Carolina University in North Carolina in 1996–97, and at Brown University from 1997–99. He has taught as Assistant Professor of Composition, Theory and Music Technology at Texas A&M University since 1999. In addition, he has given lectures in Finland and Sweden.

CONTACT INFORMATION

E-mail address: howard-j-fredrics@neo.tamu.edu

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

STAGE:

Salon Power 1250 (dance music, choreography by Elizabeth Carpenter), fixed media, 1983

Baby with the Bathwater (incidental music), fixed media, 1987

Inventory (incidental music), fixed media, 1988

The Laundromat (incidental music), fixed media, 1988

Laundry and Bourbon (incidental music), fixed media, 1988

The Mockingbird, baritone–actor, fixed media, 1988

Out in Left Field (dance music, choreography by Lee Anne Smith), fixed media, 1988

Morte accidentale di un anarchico (incidental music, play by Dario Fo), small orchestra, 1989 (a concert suite was arranged as Anarchist Suite)

No Help for That, speaker, dance troupe, fixed media, 1991 (also concert version for speaker, fixed media)

The Purple Locket (ballet music), orchestra, live electronics, 2001

ORCHESTRAL:

Classroom Antics Rag, piano, small orchestra, 1976

Chorale, small orchestra, 1979

Rhapsody, 1980

Kaleidoscope, 1986

Anarchist Suite, small orchestra, 1989 (concert suite from Morte accidentale di un anarchico)

Music for Wedekind's 'Lulu', 1999

CHAMBER MUSIC:

Stumbling Blocks, flute, French horn, violin, electric harpsichord (+ piano, celesta), 1981 (also version for MIDI-ensemble, 2000)

Woodwind Quartet, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 1981

Puzzle Box, flute, clarinet, trombone, piano, vibraphone, 1981

Follow, percussion, live electronics, 1984

Meditation, ensemble, 1986

Night Music, sampler, 1986

The Open Road, ensemble, 1988

Moonlight, ensemble, 1988

Robots, ensemble, 1988 (also version for fixed media)

Endangered Plants, ensemble, 1989

Texas Hill Country, ensemble, 1993

Texas Wildrice, ensemble, 1993

Underwater Flow, ensemble, 1993

Octête, 8 players, 1995

Variations for Flute Duet, 2 flutes, 1995

CHORAL:

Landscape, mixed chorus, flute, trumpet, cello, percussion, fixed media, 1981

Psalm 42, mixed chorus, organ, 1991

New Horizons, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1995

VOCAL:

Not from this Anger, baritone, piano, 1980

Inevitable Conflicts, soprano, string orchestra, 1991

No Help for That, speaker, fixed media, 1991 (concert version of stage work)

Vagvisa för mitt ofödda barn, soprano, fixed media, 1994

Grodorna, mezzo-soprano, fixed media, 2000 (also version for fixed media)

Two Flies, speaker, MIDI-ensemble, 2000

Northern Lights, soprano, mezzo-soprano, percussion, fixed media, 2001

PIANO:

Russian Rag, 1979

As the Spirit Wanes, 1988

ELECTROACOUSTIC:

Electronic Organisms, fixed media, 1980

Oritorio, fixed media, 1981

RUI, fixed media, 1982

Trichotomy, fixed media, 1982

Untitled, fixed media, 1984

Java Funk, fixed media, 1984

Chairs and Tables, fixed media, 1984

Windows, fixed media, 1984

Robots, fixed media, 1988 (version of chamber work)

Chaotic Structures, live electronics, 1989

The Tragedy of the Leaves, fixed media, 1991

The Raven's Kiss, fixed media, 1993

Screams from Lima, fixed media, 1998

Grodorna, fixed media, 2000 (version of vocal work)

Improvisation, live electronics, 2001

MULTIMEDIA/PERFORMANCE:

Down, fixed media, film, 1989

Music in the Age of Iron, flute, fixed media, film, 1996

TV PRODUCTIONS:

Texas Parks and Wildlife, 1991

Raven Black, 1995

Texas Parks and Wildlife Series ThemeRevised, 2002

DISCOGRAPHY

The Open Road. (Omnimusic: OM 28, 1988)

Moonlight. (Omnimusic: OM 31, 1988)

Robots (original version). (Omnimusic: OM 33, 1988)

Texas Hill Country; Texas Wildrice; Underwater Flow. (Omnimusic: OM 66, 1993)

The Raven's Kiss. (ICMC, 1994)

The Raven's Kiss. (SEAMUS: EAM 9501, 1995)

The Tragedy of the Leaves. (Centaur Records: CRC 2245, 1995)

Hypnosis from Anarchist Suite; Pantomime from Anarchist Suite; Out of Whack from Anarchist Suite; Clowning Around from Anarchist Suite. (Omnimusic: OM 83, 1995)

Inevitable Conflicts; The Raven's Kiss; No Help for That; The Tragedy of the Leaves; As the Spirit Wanes; The Mockingbird. (Auracle Music: AUR 9601, 1996)

Vagvisa för mitt ofödda barn. (SEAMUS: EAM 9601, 1996)

Vagvisa för mitt ofödda barn. (ISMEAM: HEAR 103, 1997)

Screams from Lima. (Difusión i Média: IMED 9837, 1998)

The Purple Locket. (Auracle Music: AUR 0101, 2001)

Northern Lights. (Auracle Music: AUR 0102, 2001)

Music for Wedekind's 'Lulu' (excerpts). (Omnimusic/Franklin–Douglas, 2002)