# Michael Gandolfi



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Michael James Gandolfi (born July 5, 1956 in Melrose, Massachusetts) is an American composer of contemporary classical music.

Initially a self-taught guitarist, Gandolfi entered the Berklee College of Music before transferring to the New England Conservatory of Music after one year. He went on to receive both his bachelors and masters degrees from NEC, where he is now the chair of the composition department. In 1986 he was a Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center; there he studied with Leonard Bernstein and Oliver Knussen. He has served on the faculty of Harvard University and Phillips Academy at Andover; since 1997 he has been the coordinator for the Tanglewood Music Center's composition department. He has been championed by conductor Robert Spano as one of the "Atlanta School" of American composers, a group that also includes colleagues Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, and Christopher Theofanidis.

Gandolfi's music often contains rock and jazz elements. He often looks to the sciences for his subject matter, resulting in pieces such as The Garden of Cosmic Speculation (inspired by Charles Jencks' garden in Scotland that incorporates modern physics into its design, and nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition at the 2009 Grammy Awards) and Trivia, written for the Weilerstein Trio, which counts Richard Wolfson's book Simply Einstein as a source. He has also written a significant amount of children's music, including a setting of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio story.

Gandolfi currently resides in Cambridge, MA.

[Article taken from Wikipedia]

Now, here's a contemporary composer I can appreciate. His "The Garden of Cosmic Speculation" is fantastic. Have any of you heard this yet or have even heard of Gandolfi? This composer has only recently been getting more exposure thanks, in some part, to Robert Spano championing his works. I haven't heard any of his other pieces yet, but I really look forward to what he's doing.

Please share any thoughts on this composer you may have.

http://www.michaelgandolfi.com/


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