Background
Thow, John H. was born on October 6, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of George H. and Marie (Dykes) Thow.
Thow, John H. was born on October 6, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of George H. and Marie (Dykes) Thow.
As a child he studied flute and piano, and later studied composition with Adolph Weiss, a pupil of Schoenberg’s, and conductor Frank Salazar. At University of Southern California he pursued his Bachelor of Music, studying composition with Ingolf Dahl. He continued his studies at Harvard with Earl Kim and Leon Kirchner, where he received his Doctor of Philosophy in composition in 1977.
During that time he also studied with Luigi Dallapiccola and Franco Donatoni.
Thow produced an extensive and diverse body of work comprising solo, chamber, vocal, choral, operatic and orchestral repertoire. Thow received a Fulbright Fellowship, which allowed him to travel to Rome for the first time in 1973 to study composition with Luciano Berio, who would become an important mentor and influence. After teaching at Boston University, Thow joined the University of California, Berkeley faculty in 1981, specializing in composition, orchestration, counterpoint, theory, in addition to teaching courses on American and European music of the 20th century.
A master of orchestration with a passion for literature and indigenous musical traditions, Thow produced a series of works featuring unusual instrumental combinations and vivid texts.
His “Chumash Songs” for clarinet, violin, percussion and piano (2000), commissioned by the Ventura Chamber Music Festival, incorporated melodic and rhythmic elements of the Southern California Chumash Indian tribe. “Musica d’amore” is a trio for oboe d’amore, viola d’amore and harp.
“Summer Solstice” (2005) sets contemporary Greek poetry. “Three Echoes” (2001), was written for the five-hole Lakota Sioux flute.
“Three Pieces for Carillon,” was performed at the International Carillon Festival at University of California Berkeley’s Campanile, and “Six Duets” for baroque flutes (2006) was premiered in London.
Thow received commissions from the San Francisco Symphony, Berkeley Opera, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Boston Musica Viva, Alea III, Earplay Ensemble, Ventura Chamber Music Festival and Detroit Chamber Winds, among others His compositions were performed at the Tanglewood and Edinburgh festivals, and by the L’Orchestra della Radiotelevisione Italiana in Rome, Speculum Musicae and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. His lyrical and richly colored music has been consistently championed by the finest contemporary performers.
Thow’s relationship with the San Francisco Symphony began with a 1986 performance of his “Resonance.” The Symphony subsequently commissioned the three-movement “Into the Twilight” from Thow in 1988, and “Bellini Sky,” a concerto for English horn inspired by the paintings of the 15th-century artist Giovanni Bellini, in 2005.
His late work for soprano and orchestra titled “Eros and Dust” (2003), based on texts by Matthew Arnold, Edwin Arlington Robinson, West. H. Auden and Rumi, was influenced by the September 11, 2001 attacks on Manhattan. He was artist-in-residence at the Yaddo, Djerassi, Temecula Arts, and Wurlitzer Foundations.
(Fallen Leaf Press, 1995. Score and pullout part. For two ...)
(Fallen Leaf Press, 1995. Work for Baroque flute by contem...)
Fellow American Academy in Rome (Rome Prize fellowship 1977). Member BMI, American Music Center, American Composers Forum.
Married Margaret Wait, June 24, 1971. Children: Diana Corinna, Caroline Miranda.