Biography
Kenneth Fuchs is the first living American composer recorded by the virtuoso Sinfonia of London and its brilliant conductor, John Wilson. In July 2023, Chandos Records released Cloud Slant, Orchestral Works, Volume 1. The album includes:
- “Cloud Slant (Concerto for Orchestra, After Three Paintings by Helen Frankenthaler)”
- “Quiet in the Land (Poem for Orchestra)”
- “Pacific Visions (for String Orchestra)”
- “Solitary the Thrush (Concerto for C & Alto Flute and Orchestra),” with Adam Walker as the exceptional soloist.
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.
- The first, released in August 2005, was nominated for two GRAMMY Awards (“Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra” and “Producer of the Year, Classical”). Read about recording the first LSO album here »
- The second album, which features music for horn, was released in January 2008. See photos from the recording sessions here » Following the release of this album, MusicWeb International stated in February 2008, “Fuchs’s distinctive voice is evident from the outset, and his flair for orchestral colours and sheer lyricism shine through.”
- The third album, recorded in August 2011 at London’s historic Abbey Road Studios, was released in August 2012. In its September issue, BBC Music Magazine stated, “Kenneth Fuchs writes tonal orchestral music of great imagination. He’s a master of orchestral writing.” The album was included in the 2012 GRAMMY Award nominations for the category “Producer of the Year, Classical.” See James Jolly’s video blog about this album »
- The fourth album, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in August 2013, featuring baritone Roderick Williams in a program of vocal music based on texts by Don DeLillo, John Updike, and William Blake, was released in August 2014. Gramophone magazine featured the album in its Awards Issue (October 2014), stating, “Fuchs claims his own expressive warmth and colour…. The performances are exemplary, from baritone Roderick Williams’s commanding artistry to the bold, fresh playing of the London Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta’s sensitive direction.”
The fifth album, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in August 2017, features concerti for piano, electric guitar, and alto saxophone, plus an orchestral song cycle for countertenor based on twelve poems of Judith G. Wolf. Released in August 2018, the album won the 2018 GRAMMY Award in the category “Best Classical Compendium.” James Jolly, Editor-in-Chief of Gramophone Magazine stated, “The American composer Kenneth Fuchs now has quite a sizeable discography of his music on Naxos, invariably played by the LSO who have played a major role in inspiring him to write for the orchestra with impressive authority and imagination.”
See a short video of recording this album at Abbey Road »
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.