Biography
Matthew Aucoin is an American composer, conductor, pianist, and writer. His oeuvre as a composer extends from solo piano to chamber and orchestral music to opera. Starting in the fall of 2016, Aucoin will be Artist-in-Residence at Los Angeles Opera. This position, created for Aucoin, will feature him as a composer and conductor, and will culminate in the world premiere of a newly-commissioned opera in 2019. Aucoin’s first opera, Crossing, premiered at the American Repertory Theater in May 2015. Second Nature, a one-act eco-opera for young people — commissioned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago — soon followed with a premiere in August 2015. He is currently at work on a new opera for the Metropolitan Opera / Lincoln Center Theater’s New Works program.
Other recent works include Merrill Songs, commissioned by Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall and premiered by tenor Paul Appleby and the composer in March 2016; Dual for cello and bass, commissioned by Symphony Center Presents and premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and Alexander Hanna, principal bass of the Chicago Symphony, in May 2015; and The Orphic Moment, featuring countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and commissioned by the Peabody Essex Museum where Aucoin is composer-in-residence, which premiered in June 2014. Upcoming premieres include Evidence, commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and a piano concerto commissioned by The Gilmore for pianist Charlie Albright.
Other recent works include Merrill Songs, commissioned by Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall and premiered by tenor Paul Appleby and the composer in March 2016; Dual for cello and bass, commissioned by Symphony Center Presents and premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and Alexander Hanna, principal bass of the Chicago Symphony, in May 2015; and The Orphic Moment, featuring countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and commissioned by the Peabody Essex Museum where Aucoin is composer-in-residence, which premiered in June 2014. Upcoming premieres include Evidence, commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and a piano concerto commissioned by The Gilmore for pianist Charlie Albright.