"Thomas Dempster is a composer writing predominantly chamber, electroacoustic, and multimedia works. With over 70 completed works to his name, his output ranges from solo miniatures to extended works for orchestra with soloists. His music bears accessible yet decidedly individualistic traits, from tonal references to extended techniques, from touching on classical forms to experimental soundscapes and video works. His music has been performed widely throughout North America and Europe, including festivals in England, Ireland, Italy, and Canada, the San Francisco New Music Festival, Electronic Music Midwest, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, NYCEMF, ICMC, SEAMUS, Society of Composers Inc., College Music Society, the National Flute Association, the North American Saxophone Alliance, and various other conferences and festivals. Dempster is a recipient of awards, honors, and grants from BMI, ASCAP, the Barlow Foundation, the South Carolina Arts Commission, the South Carolina Music Teachers Association, Ithaca College, Black House Collective, Vox Novus, and the Columbia (SC) Museum of Art. He has been commissioned by the Ohio State University New Music Ensemble, the Lamar University Wind Ensemble, the Greenbrook Ensemble, the Blue Mountain Ensemble, the Governor’s School of North Carolina, and others. He is an affiliate composer of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) A Michigan native, he lives in the Columbia, SC area. He is an assistant editor with Jasper magazine, a contributor to the new music digest I Care If You Listen, and an album reviewer for the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS). He has given lectures on musical aesthetics, intellectual property issues, and musical analysis at CMS, NYCEMF, and SCMEA conferences. He has had residencies with the Mid-Missouri Composers Symposium, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, and the Cortona Sessions for New Music. He studied at the University of Texas (MM, DMA) with Kevin Puts, Dan Welcher, and Russell Pinkston, and at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (BM) with Eddie Bass, Craig Walsh, and Frank McCarty. He studied bassoon with Michael Burns, is an active performer, and is a proponent of extended performance techniques for the bassoon. "
2 Scores
