Donal Fox: Improvising Pianist with Orchestra

Donal Fox is internationally acclaimed as composer, pianist, and improviser in both jazz and classical music. His numerous awards include a Guggenheim fellowship in music composition and a fellowship from the Bogliasco Foundation. He served as the first African-American composer-in-residence with the St. Louis Symphony and was a visiting artist at Harvard University, where he received a Certificate of Recognition from the President of Harvard College for his contribution to the arts. Mr. Fox just completed two years as Martin Luther King artist in residence at M.I.T.

2012-13 Offerings for Orchestra:

Donal Fox’s Peace Out for Improvised Piano and Orchestra

Premiere: American Composers Orchestra; Donal Fox, piano; Stefan Lano, Conductor; Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall New York, NY November 30, 2009

With Peace Out, Donal Fox draws equally on the tradition of improvisation in jazz as well as classical greats like Mozart who would improvise large sections of his Piano Concertos. Quotes of Charlie Parker and John Coltrane melodies give way to minimalist-inspired arrangements. “An arresting piece,” writes Anthony Tommasini for the New York Times, “[Peace Out] deftly draws from jazz and classical contemporary traditions [...] The blazingly scored orchestra part is fully composed. But the piano part, though well plotted, includes swaths of improvised, interactive music. [...] Mr. Fox’s piano playing, bursting with violent, keyboard-spanning runs, drove the music.”

T.J. Anderson’s Fragments for Improvised Piano and Orchestra (A J.S. Bach/T.S. Monk Fantasy)

Premiere: Donal Fox, Piano soloist with the University of Iowa Symphony orchestra; William LaRue Jones, conductor; Hancher Auditorium, Iowa City, University of Iowa, October, 2006

T.J. Anderson writes: “The concept of combining Bach and Monk was introduced to me by my former student, Donal Fox. I recognized in these two composers an interval in common; the augmented 4th: For Bach, the relationship was contrapuntal and for Monk homophonic. [...] Through free cadenzas, modal and chordal improvisation, the work has references to both Bach and Monk. The piano soloist through improvisation makes this a joint undertaking. There are no written notes for the pianist. [...] My constant formula for Fragments has been J.S. Bach + T.S. Monk = T.J. Anderson.”