Bruce Wolosoff
Bruce Wolosoff (born March 27, 1955 in New York City), is an American classical composer, pianist, and educator.
Wolosoff was educated at Bard College and the New England Conservatory in Boston. It was at the New England Conservatory that he met jazz composer-pianist Jaki Byard, an artist who was to exert an enormous influence on Wolosoff’s musical development. After graduating from the conservatory, Wolosoff moved back to New York and began his career as a virtuoso pianist and one of the top freelance pianists in New York City in the 1980s. His debut recital was reviewed by distinguished music critic Tim Page, then writing for the NY Times, who wrote that “Mr. Wolosoff is an artist with ideas. He combines keen musical insight with a prismatic sense of tonal color”. He premiered many new works which were written for him, including works by Daron Hagen, Richard Danielpour, and Charlie Banacos. A highly regarded solo piano recording of works by Ferruccio Busoni was released by Music & Arts Records in 1986. Wolosoff organized an 80th birthday tribute to Olivier Messiaen at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in 1988. It was soon after this that he abandoned public performance for many years in order to devote himself more fully to composition.
“Bruce Wolosoff integrates romantic, modern classical, jazz, and blues music
together into an authentic American voice, and he is a composer I want to hear more
of. “ wrote the East Hampton Star.
Wolosoff has written for, among others, The Columbus Symphony, The Minnesota Ballet, recorder virtuoso Michala Petri, oboist Rudolph Vrbsky, violinist Chas Wetherbee, The Carpe Diem String Quartet, The Lark Quartet, and the 21st Century Consort in Washington, who have commissioned numerous works from the composer under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. Other groups to perform his works include the NY Chamber Ensemble under the direction of Alan R. Kay, The Da Capo Chamber Players, Opus 3 Piano Trio.
“The Passions", with a set by the composer's wife painter Margaret Garrett, was commissioned by the Minnesota Ballet.
Choreographer Ann Reinking created a ballet for Thodos Dance Chicago based on Wolosoff’s music called “White City”
“Songs without Words (18 divertimenti for string quartet)”, composed for the Carpe Diem String Quartet, were released on Naxos Records.
Education
At Bard College, Wolosoff studied with composer Joan Tower, and studied theory with Benjamin Boretz, poetry with Robert Kelly, and improvisation with Roswell Rudd.
Classical piano studies with Richard Goode, Evelyne Crochet, and German Diez (who teaches the technique of Claudio Arrau) with whom he studied for 16 years. He also participated in master classes at the University of Indiana with Jorge Bolet and at the Konservatorium in Luzerne with Malcom Frager.
Jazz piano, composition, and arranging with Jaki Byard, jazz harmony with Charlie Banacos. Principal composition studies with Lawrence Widdoes.
Educator
A radically innovative music teacher who began giving lessons at age 13, Wolosoff conceived of and implemented the “Creative Orchestra” technique of teaching music in schools. All students in the ensemble, many of whom have no previous musical training, compose, conduct, and perform one another’s music. This has been done now for 7 years at the Hayground School in Bridgehampton, Long Island.