Biography

Short Biography

Curriculum Vitae

Artist Statement

Kenneth FuchsPhoto: Dario Acosta

Kenneth Fuchs is the first living American composer recorded by the virtuoso Sinfonia of London and its brilliant conductor, John Wilson.

In June 2024, Chandos Records will release Light Year, Orchestral Works, Volume 2. The album includes:

In July 2023, Chandos Records released Cloud Slant, Orchestral Works, Volume 1. The album includes:

Fuchs has recorded for Naxos five albums with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta, the last of which won the 2018 GRAMMY® Award for “Best Classical Compendium.” Naxos released all five albums on its American Classics label.

Fuchs has composed music for orchestra, band, voice, chorus, and various chamber ensembles. With Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson, Fuchs created three chamber musicals, The Great Nebula in Orion, A Betrothal, and Bronto­saurus, which Circle Repertory Company originally pre­sent­ed in New York City. Fuchs’s operatic monodrama Falling Man (text by Don DeLillo, adapted by J. D. McClatchy) was presented at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of 9/11.

In August 2020, Naxos released Point of Tranquility (Seven Works for Symphonic Winds), recorded by the United States Coast Guard Band; Commander and Director Adam Williamson; Greg Case, saxophone; Naxos (Wind Band Classics 8.573567), 2020.

An album of Fuchs’s chamber music, released by Naxos in April 2013, includes Falling Canons (Christopher O’Riley, piano), Falling Trio (Trio21), and String Quartet No. 5 “American” (Delray String Quartet). The album has received outstanding reviews in print and at online sources, including Fanfare magazine, Gramophone magazine, and MusicWeb International. The highly successful album Kenneth Fuchs: String Quartets 2, 3, 4, performed by the American String Quartet, was released by Albany Records. Following the release of this album, American Record Guide stated quite simply, “String quartet recordings don’t get much better than this.”

Fuchs has received numerous commissions to write for orchestra, band, and chamber groups. His music has achieved significant global recognition through performances, media exposure, and digital streaming and downloading throughout North and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia. SiriusXM Satellite Radio has showcased his music on its “Symphony Hall” and “Pops” channels during “Music Discovery Week” and on the programs “Ask a Musician,” “Composers Roundtable,” and “JoAnn Falletta – Rediscovering Holst and Discovering Hailstork and Fuchs.”

Kenneth Fuchs serves as Professor of Music Composition at the University of Connecticut. He received his bachelor of music degree in composition from the University of Miami (cum laude) and his master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees in composition from The Juilliard School. Fuchs’s composition teachers include Milton Babbitt, David Del Tredici, David Diamond, Vincent Persichetti, and Alfred Reed. His music is published by Bill Holab Music, Hal Leonard LLC, Edward B. Marks Music Company, Theodore Presser Company, and Yelton Rhodes Music, and it has been recorded by Albany, Cala, and Naxos.