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Andrew Norman

Andrew Norman

Country of origin: United States of America
Birthday: October 31, 1979

Upcoming Performances

Gran Turismo
June 16, 2024 | Queensland, QLD (Australia) , Queensland Symphony Orchestra Studio

About Andrew Norman

Among the most talented and original of young American composers...master of a uniquely dazzling and mercurial style. – The New Yorker

Andrew Norman (b. 1979) is a composer of orchestral, chamber, and vocal music. Norman's work draws on an eclectic mix of sounds and notational practices from both the avant-garde and classical traditions. He is increasingly interested in story-telling in music, and specifically in the ways non-linear, narrative-scrambling techniques from other time-based media like movies and video games might intersect with traditional symphonic forms. His distinctive, often fragmented and highly energetic voice has been cited in The New York Times for its “daring juxtapositions and dazzling colors,” in the Boston Globe for its “staggering imagination,” and in the Los Angeles Times for its “audacious” spirit and “Chaplinesque” wit.

Norman’s symphonic works have been performed by leading ensembles worldwide, including the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, the BBC, Saint Louis, Seattle, and Melbourne Symphonies, the Orpheus, Saint Paul, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestras, the Tonhalle Orchester, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, and many others. Norman's music has been championed by some of the classical music’s eminent conductors, including John Adams, Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Rattle, and David Robertson.

In recent seasons, Norman's chamber music has been featured at the Bang on a Can Marathon, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Wordless Music Series, the CONTACT! series, the Ojai Festival, the MATA Festival, the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, the Green Umbrella series, the Monday Evening Concerts, and the Aspen Music Festival. In May of 2010, the Berlin Philharmonic’s Scharoun Ensemble presented a portrait concert of Norman's music entitled “Melting Architecture.”

Norman is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the 2004 Jacob Druckman Prize, the 2005 ASCAP Nissim and Leo Kaplan Prizes, the 2006 Rome Prize, the 2009 Berlin Prize, a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2017 Arts and Letters Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was named Musical America's 2017 Composer of the Year. He joined the roster of Young Concert Artists as Composer-in-Residence in 2008 and held the title “Komponist für Heidelberg” for the 2010-2011 season. Norman has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Opera Philadelphia, and is currently Creative Advisor and Composer-in-Residence with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Norman’s 30-minute string trio The Companion Guide to Rome was named a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music, and his large-scale orchestral work Play was nominated for a 2016 Grammy in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category and received the 2017 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition.

Andrew Norman is a committed educator who enjoys helping people of all ages explore and create music. He has written pieces to be performed by and for the young, and has held educational residencies with various institutions across the country. Norman joined the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music in 2013, and he serves as the director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Composer Fellowship Program for high school composers.

Norman recently finished two piano concertos, Suspend, for Emanuel Ax, and Split, for Jeffrey Kahane, as well as a percussion concerto, Switch, for Colin Currie. Recent projects include collaborations with Jeremy Denk, Jennifer Koh, and eighth blackbird. In the 2016/17 season, Norman receives the world premiere of a new children’s opera with the Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

His music is published exclusively worldwide by Schott Music.

 

 

 

Worklist

Chronology

1979
Born in Grand Rapids, MI
1998
Earned ASCAP Morton Gould Award
1999
Earned second ASCAP Morton Gould Award
2002
Received Bachelors Degree from University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music
2003
"Sacred Geometry" premieres at Carnegie Hall with the New York Youth Symphony, conducted by Paul Haas
2004
Awarded the ASCAP Nissim Prize for "Sacred Geometry"

Won the Jacob Druckman Prize from Aspen Music Festival for "Sacred Geometry"

Received Masters Degree from University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music
2005
Earned an ASCAP Leo Kaplan Award and a BMI Student Composer Award
2006
Earned third ASCAP Morton Gould Award

Awarded the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome
2008
"Unstuck" premieres with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, conducted by Michael Sanderling

Joins Young Concert Artists as Composer-in-Residence
2009
Earned Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music, where he studied with Aaron Jay Kernis

Awarded a Charles Ives Scholarship by the American Academy of Arts and Letters
2010
"Gran Turismo" for eight violins featured on Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel

"The Great Swiftness" premieres with the Grand Rapids Symphony

The Calder Quartet premieres "toward sunrise and the prime of light" at University of Southern California presidential inauguration.

Andrew Norman named Composer for the City of Heidelberg for the 2010-2011 season
2011
"Apart, Together" premieres with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

John Adams leads the premiere of "Try", for chamber orchestra, on the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series.
2011-2013
Andrew Norman serves as Boston Modern Orchestra Project's Music Alive Composer in Residence
2012
"The Companion Guide to Rome" named Finalist for 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra announces Norman as Composer-in-Residence
2013
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra premieres "Music in Circles III", led by Jeffrey Kahane.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Gil Rose premiere "Play" for large orchestra.

Andrew Norman named composer-in-residence with Opera Philadelphia

Norman joins faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music
2014
Release, for piano and orchestra, premieres with soloist Emanuel Ax and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Gustavo Dudamel

Premiere recording of "The Companion Guide to Rome" released by A Far Cry on Crier Records
2015
World premiere of Norman's piano concerto "Split" with soloist Jeffrey Kahane and the New York Philharmonic, conducted by James Gaffigan.

Colin Currie gives the world premiere of Norman's percussion concerto "Switch" with Thierry Fischer and the Utah Symphony Orchestra, followed by the UK premiere with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo.

French premiere of "Suspend" with pianist Inon Barnatan and James Gaffigan conducting the Orchestre National de France.
2016
"Play" nominated for 2016 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition

Awarded 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship

Appointed director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Composer Fellowship Program for high school composers

Named Musical America's 2017 Composer of the Year

Gustavo Dudamel leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the world premiere of the revised version of "Play" at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

"Play" receives the 2017 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition
2017
Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for the orchestral work "Play"
2020
Grammy Award for "Sustain" on Deutsche Grammophon in the category "Best Orchestral Performance"
2020
Joins the Juilliard faculty in New York City, NY

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Performances

Set Descending Direction
  • Gran Turismo
    June 16, 2024 | Queensland, QLD (Australia) , Queensland Symphony Orchestra Studio
  • Set Descending Direction