Christopher Rouse was one of America’s most prominent composers. Winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for his Trombone Concerto and a 2002 GRAMMY for his Concert de Gaudi, Rouse created a body of work perhaps unequalled in its expressive intensity. The New York Times has called it “some of the most memorable music around.”
Born in Baltimore in 1949, Rouse developed an early interest in both classical and popular music. He graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory and Cornell University, numbering among his principal teachers George Crumb and Karel Husa. He taught composition at the Eastman School of Music for two decades and taught composition at The Juilliard School.
His music has been played by every major orchestra in the U.S. and by numerous ensembles overseas, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the London and BBC Symphony Orchestras, and the Sydney, Singapore, and Toronto Symphonies. Soloists for whom he composed works include Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Evelyn Glennie, Cho-Liang Lin, and Sharon Isbin.
Rouse was the Baltimore Symphony’s composer-in-residence from 1986 to 1989 and was named the Marie-Josee Kravis composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic, serving in that capacity from 2012 until 2015. He passed away on 21 September 2019.
Christopher Rouse was published by Boosey & Hawkes.
Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes.