Education
DMA, The Hartt School, University of Hartford
MM, The Hartt School, University of Hartford
BM, College of Saint Rose
Thomas Schuttenhelm is an American composer, guitarist, and scholar. He is the Artistic Director at Network for New Music and the Concerts and Artist Services Coordinator at Astral Artists.
His performance and research interests include: American Art Song (with particular emphasis on voice and guitar); British Modern Music; Contemporary American Music; Contemporary Guitar, and Popular Music.
His compositions have a strong conceptual component exhibiting an intentional belatedness and the post-historical conditions of the 21st century. His music uses embodied programs that celebrate in allusions to the musical, literary, poetic, visual, and theatrical influences that resonate throughout his compositions. Recent collaborations include: Chorosynthesis; Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra; Hartford Symphony; New American Mandolin Ensemble; UK Guitar Quartet; Duo Montagnard; Duo Orfeo; Kaleidos World Music Duo; Adaskin String Trio; Tempo del Fuoco; Alturas Duo; vocalists: Sarah Armstrong (soprano), Justin Vickers (tenor), Margot Rood (soprano); soloists: Eliot Fisk, Jason Vieaux, Aaron Larget-Caplan, John Birt, Nick Cutroneo, Yovianna Garcia, Dan Hartington, Daniel Salazar and the Hartford Festival Orchestra, Paul Bisaccia, Robert Black, and Volkan Orhon.
More about Thomas Schuttenhelm
“Those most ‘instrumental’ to my music: Britten’s performers and the Aldeburgh Festival (1948-76)”
Britten in Context, edited by Vicki Stroeher and Justin Vickers
Cambridge University Press: Composers in Context Series, forthcoming 2020
“Listening to the Furies while standing in the Shade”
featured article for Editions Wandelweiser, November 2018
Vision and Revision: a Critical Commentary on Michael Tippett’s Fifth String Quartet
London: Taylor & Francis, 2017
“Michael Tippett: in the composer’s own voice,”
featured article for the British Library Sound and Vision Blog, March 2017
Michael Tippett: Parcours de l'oeuvre
Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) encyclopedia of post-WWII music
“James Sellars: American Composers and American Traditions”
featured article for Harttblogs, October 2015
Creative Development and the Compositional Process in the Orchestral Music of Michael Tippett. New York; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014
“Between Image and the Imagination: the Creative Process in the Music of Michael Tippett”
The Cambridge Companion to Michael Tippett, edited by Ken Gloag and Nick Jones,
Cambridge University Press, 2013
“The Use of Listening Strategies in the Fantasia's not in Variation Form by Fernando Sor”
Sor Studies /Estudios sobre Fernando Sor, Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, 2003 / 2010
The Selected Letters of Michael Tippett. Chatham: Faber and Faber, 2005
“A Comparative Analysis of the Guitar Entries in Orchestration Textbooks”
Soundboard, Special Issue, Winter/Spring, 2000
“Sir Michael Tippett and The Blue Guitar: An Examination of the Manuscript”
Soundboard, Fall 1998
Edison Fellowship, Sound Archives, British Library, London, 2016-2017
British Studies Fellowship, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, 2008
Fulbright Fellow, Senior Scholar (United Kingdom), 2007-2008, British Library, London and Cardiff University, Wales
Research Fellow, The Michael Tippett Office, London, England, 2001-2002
He has given lectures at Yale University (New Haven, CT), Temple University (Philadelphia, PA), Howard University (Washington DC), Cardiff University (Wales, UK), University of Newcastle (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK), University of Sussex (UK), University of London (UK), and at the Mannheim Hochschule for Music (Mannheim, DE).
‘visions and revisions’: retrospection and illumination in Michael Tippett’s Fifth String Quartet
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
Temple University, Philadelphia PA (December 2018)
The composer-performer in the 21st century: a lecture-recital
Composers Seminar
Duke University, Durham NC (October 2016)
‘visions and revisions’: retrospection and illumination in Michael Tippett’s Fifth String Quartet
North American British Music Studies Association Biennial Conference
University of Las Vegas, Las Vegas NV (July 2014)
American Art Song for Voice and Guitar: a lecture-recital
International Guitar Research Centre
University of Surrey, UK (March 2014)
Young Apollos: the developing relationship between Britten and Tippett
Benjamin Britten at 100: An American Centenary Symposium
Illinois State University (October 2013)
Rhythm: Influence and Innovation in the Music of Michael Tippett
Music Since 1900: Rhythm and Analysis
Duke University (February 2012)
Oedipus Rex (Stravinsky) and Greek (Mark Anthony Turnage)
Greek Theater and Society
Temple University (February 2012)
Image and Metaphor: the creative process in the orchestral works of Michael Tippett
“Tracking the Creative Process in Music”
Nicolas Donin (IRCAM) and Vincent Tiffon (Univ. Lille-Nord de France)
Maison Européenne des Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société (September 2011)
Songs for Achilles: Myth and Mourning
Yale University, New Haven, CT (2011)
Context & Creative Process: A Hermeneutical Approach to the Symphonies of Michael Tippett
The University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2008)
A ‘Partial’ View of The Rose Lake: Relational Aesthetics and the Inter/Intra-textual References in the late works of Michael Tippett’s
John Bird Lecture Series
Cardiff University; Cardiff, Wales (2008)
American Contemporary Music: a survey of recent trends and exceptional works
Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales (2008)
Harking Back to the Renaissance
Moderator; Second Biennial Conference of the North American British Music Studies Association
St. Michael’s College, Colchester, Vermont (2006)
Reading a Composer’s Life: Issues and Perspectives in the letters of Michael Tippett
Institute of Historical Research, University of London (2006)
Fourth Biennial International Conference on Twentieth-century Music
The Creative Process in the works of Michael Tippett
University of Sussex, Brighton, England (2005)
The Tippett Symposium
The Knot Garden: Influences and Origins
University of Glasgow, Scotland (2005)
He is a guest blogger for the British Library Sound Archive where he was a Thomas Edison Fellow. He also enjoys creating and editing articles for Wikipedia. He currently resides in Philadelphia.