Adès, Thomas [key], 1971–, British composer, conductor, and pianist, b. London, studied Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and King's College, Cambridge. An accomplished composer of solo, orchestral, chamber, choral, and operatic works, he made his debut (1993) as a pianist at London's Park Lane Group, and attracted attention the next year with his first work, Five Eliot Landscapes (1990) for soprano and piano. He is particularly known for his operas: Powder Her Face (1995), a chamber work that provoked controversy for its themes of aristocratic sexual hijinks and divorce; The Tempest (2003), an expressive interpretation of Shakespeare's play; and The Exterminating Angel (2016), based on the Buñuel film in which dinner guests become incapable of leaving a mansion. Among his other works are Living Toys (1993), for chamber ensemble; Asyla (1997), Trevot (2007), and Polaris (2010), for orchestra; The Four Quartets (2010), for string quartet; Totentanz (2013), for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and orchestra; and the postmodern Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (2019).
See conversations with T. Service (2012).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Music: History, Composers, and Performers: Biographies
