Photo by Arthur Elgort |
Musical
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"...there
is no more beautiful or evocative music being played in a New York theater
at the moment than Richard Peaslee's haunting, piquantly orchestrated
score."
- New York Times, 05/11/02
BIOGRAPHY |
RICHARD
PEASLEE has written extensively for the theatre in New York,
London and Paris. In addition to numerous scores for Broadway,
Off-Broadway and regional theatres, he wrote the music for
the Peter Brook/Royal Shakespeare Company productions of The
Marat/Sade, A Midsummer’s Night Dream,
US and Antony and Cleopatra; for Sir Peter
Hall and the Royal National Theatre, he wrote the music for
Animal Farm; and for Terry Hands and the RSC, Tamburlaine
the Great. For Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare
Festival he created scores for Richard III, Henry
IV, Troilus and Cressida and Antigone;
with Martha Clarke and Music Theatre Group, he wrote the music
for The Garden of Earthly Delights, Vienna Lusthaus,
The Hunger Artist and Miracolo d’Amore,
produced by Joe Papp. |
Among
his Broadway credits are Marat/Sade and Midsummer
Nights Dream (transfered from London) as well as scores
for Indians, Teibele and Her Demon, Frankenstein
and Boccaccio. He has also worked extensively with
Joe Chaikin and The Open Theatre. His musicals for family
audiences include The Snow Queen (NYS Theatre Institute),
The Children’s Crusade, Tanglewood Tales
and an opera, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Lincoln
Center Institute, American Opera Projects/Family Opera Initiative commissions and premiere). His latest work, Moby-Dick, a music drama based on Melville's
novel was recently produced in London. |
In
dance, Peaslee composed the score for Touch, commissioned
and performed by the New York City Ballet with choreography
by David Parsons, and The Four Humours, commissioned
and performed by Pilobolus. His music for Elisa Monte’s
Feu Follet, A Cajun Tale has toured Europe
and America. Peaslee has also worked with choreographers
Twyla Tharp, Lar Lubovitch, Kathryn Posin, Grethe Holby
and Elizabeth Keen. |
His concert
works have been performed by orchestras, chamber ensembles
and soloists, most notably the Philadelphia, Detroit, Seattle,
Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and Buffalo Symphony Orchestras.
His concerto for trombone, Arrows of Time, was premiered
by the Seattle Symphony. |
In
jazz, his numerous works for big band have been played by
William Russo’s London Jazz Orchestra, the Chicago
Jazz Ensemble, the Stan Kenton and Ted Heath Orchestras
and by soloists that include Gerry Mulligan (for whom he
wrote Mulligan Concerto). |
His
scores for film and television include the Joseph Campbell/Bill
Moyer series The Power of Myth (music nominated
for an Emmy), Claudia Shear’s Blown Sideways Through
Life (American Playhouse) and Time/Life’s Wild,
Wild World of Animals. |
Awards
include: The American Academy of Arts and Letters
Marc Blitzstein Award; Obie, Drama Desk, and Villager Awards;
as well as NEA and NYFA Fellowships. |
Background |
Peaslee
was born in New York City, currently lives in Seattle, and
received his undergraduate degree in Music Composition from
Yale University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. After serving
two years in the U.S. Army, he received both a diploma and
a Master of Science degree from The Juilliard School, in addition
to studying privately with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and William
Russo in New York and London. |
Peaslee
has served on the faculty of the Lincoln Center Institute
and New York University’s Music Theatre Program and
is a former board member of The American Composers Orchestra
and Jobs For Youth. He serves on the board of American Opera
Projects and SCAN New York. A retrospective on his career
was presented by Lincoln Center’s Composers’ Showcase
at Alice Tully Hall. |
Richard
Peaslee’s music is published by Margun Music, a division
of G. Schirmer, Inc., Boosey and Hawkes and E.C. Schirmer,
Inc. and has been recorded on EMI, Columbia, Elecktra, Musical
Heritage Society, and other labels. |
dickpeaslee@earthlink.net |
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Site intro music:
"Sanguine" from The Four Humours (Pilobolus)
• Copyright
2008-12 Richard Peaslee •
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