Draft:Thomas Beveridge
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Thomas Beveridge | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 4, 1938 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer, composer, conductor, teacher |
| Years active | 1955–2005 |
| Spouse | Meryle Secrest |
Thomas Beveridge (born June 4, 1938) is an American musician, singer, composer, conductor, and teacher.
Early life and education
[edit]Thomas Gattrell Beveridge was born in New York City to Lowell P. Beveridge and Ida (Gatrell) Beveridge. Lowell served on the music faculty of Columbia University and was organist and choirmaster at Columbia's St. Paul's Chapel. After gaining ordination as an Episcopal priest, Lowell taught at the Virginia Theological Seminary and served on the faculty of the Union Seminary School of Sacred Music.[1]
Older brother Lowell Peter "Pete" Beveridge Jr. is a published author of two books and a former editor of The Liberator magazine.[2]
Exposed from birth to music, Thomas started taking piano lessons at age six, developing within a few years into a pianist capable of accompanying his father on the organ. Thomas began composing music at age eleven. As a teenager, he also learned the oboe. By the time he entered Harvard University in 1955, Beveridge had written seventy-five pieces.[3]
As an undergraduate student, Beveridge studied composition with Walter Piston and Randall Thompson and choral conducting with G. Wallace Woodworth at Harvard, and voice with Olga Averino and Mascia Predit at the nearby Longy School of Music of Bard College. Beveridge continued to compose as a student, producing more substantial works, including a modern opera based on Dido and Aeneas. He wrote music specially for the Harvard Glee Club, in which he was also a soloist. On a visit to Harvard, Nadia Boulanger invited Beveridge to study composition and conducting at her Fontainebleu school in France.[4]
Career
[edit]After graduation, Beveridge enlisted in the United States Army. He soon joined the Army Chorus based in Fort Myer in Arlington County, Virginia as a bass soloist and staff arranger. Beveridge served 20 years, retiring at the rank of master sergeant. While in the army, Beveridge married the English journalist and biographer Meryle Secrest on November 23, 1975. Upon his discharge, Beveridge stayed in the Washington, D.C. area, where his career as choral singer, composer, and conductor grew.[5]
Singer
[edit]Beveridge has been a soloist in performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Company of Boston, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, the Cathedral Choral Society, the New Amsterdam Singers, the Bethlehem Bach Choir, and the Philadelphia Singers. He has also appeared at the New England Bach Festival and the Yehudi Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland. Beveridge has given solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Symphony Space in New York, the Phillips Collection, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Library of Congress, and the National Gallery of Art.
Conductor
[edit]Beveridge has served as director of choral activities at George Mason University; chorus master of the Washington National Opera; instructor in voice, conducting and composition at the Levine School of Music; and Director of the Washington Men's Camerata. He has appeared as guest conductor for music organizations including the Smithsonian's National Gallery Orchestra, the Washington Chamber Symphony, and the Choral Arts Society of Washington's performance of The Eighth Chapter by Alexander Knaifel at the Washington National Cathedral featuring cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Beveridge has also served as organist and choirmaster Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.; founder and artistic director of the National Men's Chorus, a vocal ensemble devoted to the adult male voice choral tradition; and co-founder and artistic director of the 175-voice New Dominion Chorale.
Works
[edit]Beveridge has composed more than 700 works, including nearly 500 for choir. He has also composed three symphonies including Symphony of Peace, an oratorio entitled Once: In Memoriam Martin Luther King, Jr., and Yizkor Requiem , a concert work melding Jewish and Christian musical traditions.[6]
He has received commissions from Harvard University, the Harvard Divinity School, Union Theological Seminary, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation at the Library of Congress.
Beveridge has recorded for labels such as Centaur Records, Crystal Records, RCA Records, and Vox Records.
Notable compositions
[edit]Symphony of Peace (2002), cantata for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra. In an interview[7] shortly before its premier, Beveridge recalled starting work on the piece in 1972 while still in the army. Unable to express his anti-war sentiments while in the military, he wrote the symphony using biblical texts to support world peace.[8]
Yizkor Requiem: A Quest for Spritual Roots (1994) is dedicated to the memory of his father, Lowell Beveridge, and inspired by his father's pursuit of ecumenism between Judaism and Christianity. When his father retired from teaching, Beveridge's parents traveled to Israel to study at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem. Beveridge reflected his father's work in Yizkor Requiem by combining elements of the Jewish burial service and the Catholic requiem mass, using a cantor speaking in Arabic and Hebrew and a chorus singing in English and Latin.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ Anonymous (June 19, 1991). "The Rev. Lowell Beveridge, professor of music, dies". The Washington Post.
- ^ Sullivan, Sady (May 23, 2012). "Pete Beveridge". Oral History Collections, Center for Brooklyn History. Brooklyn Public Library.
- ^ "Thomas Beveridge Biography". Singers.com. United Singers International.
- ^ Levin, Neil. "Artists: Thomas Beveridge". Milken Archive of Jewish Music.
- ^ "Thomas Beveridge, Artistic Director". New Dominion Chorale.
- ^ Celentano, Andrew (October 18, 2022). "Interview with Thomas Beveridge". YouTube. Google.
- ^ Page, Time (November 8, 2002). "For Thomas Beveridge, 'Peace' at Long Last". The Washington Post.
- ^ McLellan, Joseph (November 11, 2002). "Thomas Beveridge's Welcome 'Peace' Offering". The Washington Post.
- ^ Town & Gown (March 29, 2016). "5 Questions with composer Thomas Beveridge". StateCollege.com.
External links
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