Douglas J. Cuomo (born February 13, 1958) is an American composer ofcontemporary classical music andmusic for television.
Born inTucson, Arizona, raised in theSan Francisco Bay Area andAmherst,Massachusetts, Douglas J. Cuomo began playing the trumpet in grade school and switched to guitar at the age of 12. While still in high school he studied with jazz musiciansMax Roach andArchie Shepp at theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst.[1]
He began his professional musical career at the age of 18, touring the country with a Las Vegas show band. He alternated years of college with years on the road as a guitarist, studying jazz, world music and ethnomusicology atWesleyan University in Connecticut. He completed his undergraduate studies at theUniversity of Miami (Coral Gables) with a degree in jazz performance.[1][2]
Cuomo's first work to garner significant public notice wasAtomic Opera, which was performed at theOhio Theatre in downtownNew York City. The New York Times wrote that Cuomo's "elegiac and eerie" score "blends electronically treated classical fragments and vintage kitsch, suggests the breaking down and reconstitution of matter into something ominous and uncontrollable."[3] After Atomic Opera, he scored fifteen productions for theRoundabout Theatre, includingThe Women, Design For Living, Hamlet, The Visit, and theTony Award-winningAnna Christie.[4]
In television, Cuomo has scored over 120 episodes forHomicide: Life on the Street. His credits include numerous series, movies, and documentaries forCBS,NBC,ABC,HBO andVH1, among others. He has also scored a number of independent films, includingRevolution #9,Terrorists, andCrazy Love, featuring pianistBilly Childs and trumpeterChris Botti.[5] Cuomo also composed the theme toSex and the City (HBO), praised byThe New Yorker magazine for its "unusual, edgy salsa flavor" and the saxophone quartet music that opens and closesNow with Bill Moyers (PBS).
Cuomo's collaborators have included the string quartetEthel, the PRISM saxophone quartet, the vocal groupAnonymous 4, violinistMark Feldman, trumpetersFrank London andSteven Bernstein, pianistsOscar Hernandez andBrian Mitchell, drummers Robby Ameen andRoberto Juan Rodríguez, tabla playerBadal Roy, guitaristsMark Stewart and Dave Fuzinski and many others.
In 2008 Cuomo composedArjuna’s Dilemma, an 80-minute opera-oratorio incorporating an Indian vocalist, a classically trained tenor, a four-member female chorus, a tabla player, an improvising tenor saxophonist, and a ten-piece chamber ensemble.[6]Arjuna’s Dilemma has been produced by the Music-Theatre Group, and was performed atBAM's Next Wave Festival.[7]The New York Times describedArjuna's Dilemma as "an opera with an appealing and unabashedly eclectic score."[8] A recording ofArjuna’s Dilemma, performed by artists including Indian singer Amit Chatterjee, members of Anonymous 4 and thePhilip Glass Ensemble, tenor Tony Boutté, Badal Roy, Ethel, pianistKathleen Supové, and bassist Robert Black of theBang on a Can All Stars, was released onInnova Recordings.[9]
In addition toArjuna’s Dilemma, his concert works include aKyrie for And on Earth, Peace (2007) commissioned by the vocal ensembleChanticleer, premiered by the group at theTemple of Dendur at theMetropolitan Museum of Art, and recorded onWarner Music; andFortune for The Young People's Chorus under the direction of Francisco Nunez. Cuomo composedOnly Breath for cello and electronics, commissioned byMaya Beiser for an evening-length program titledProvenance, performed at the Arts & Ideas Festival, theRavinia Festival, andCarnegie Hall. Other works includeA Winter's Journey, a setting ofWilhelm Müller's text for Schubert'sWinterreise song cycle, scored for mezzo-soprano, trumpet, cello, and electronics.[10] In 2010, his work, Black Diamond Express Train to Hell, a double concerto for sampler, cellist Maya Beiser, and orchestra premiered at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall with the American Composers Orchestra.
In 2013, Cuomo's opera,Doubt, based on theJohn Patrick Shanley play and movie, was premiered at Minnesota Opera. The libretto was written by Mr. Shanley and the cast includedDenyce Graves,Christine Brewer, Matthew Worth, and Adriana Zabala. Associated Press called the opera "a success," citing the "gripping"[11] theater experience and the "clearly talented" Cuomo's "ear for subtle dissonance" and "inventive orchestrations."
The Pittsburgh Opera mounted the world premiere of his monodrama for tenor,Savage Winter (originally titledAshes and Snow), in 2018, with Eric Ferring as the protagonist and Jonathan Moore directing.[12]
Cuomo has received fellowships and grants from theNational Endowment for the Arts,Mabou Mines,Meet the Composer, theBlue Mountain Center, theMacDowell Colony, and theHermitage Artist Retreat, and has received threeBMI Film & TV Awards. His theme forSex and the City was chosen byTV Guide as one of the top 50 television themes of all time.[13]
Douglas J. Cuomo's compositions are published bySchott Music.[10]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
