"exciting, energetic, full of vivid passages and picturesque moods..."
-The Honolulu Advertiser
"...dramatic and filled with a variety of engaging textures."
-Sequenza 21
"...an outstanding composer who composes vibrant, sophisticated music."
-Michael Daugherty
Grammy Award Winning Composer
"a thunderous exercise in virtuosity"
- Sequenza 21
"one of the most gifted young composers I have ever met..."
- Bright Sheng
Leonard Bernstein Distinguished University Professor
"A composer of great viola music!"
- Joseph Kern
Brehm Prize Composer
"the brand of regal virtuosity..."
"gifted...an understatment!"
-Mufi Hannemann
Mayor of Honolulu
"An instinctive sense as to what orchestras can do..."
-Neil McKay
Recent News
MIchael has been selected in the Emerging Composer Program during the Staunton Music Festival in August 2012. (12/5/11)
Robert Spano has chosen The Light Bringer as winner of the 2012 Druckman Prize from the Aspen Music Festival and School. (11/23/11)
The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra has named Michael " Composer of the Year " for the 2011-2012 season. His work, Rat Race! will be premiered by Ryan Haskins and SCSO in Februrary 2012. (11/1/11)
Michael has advanced to the final round of the University of Oklahoma 4x4 Prizes in Composition and Conducting held from February 9 to February 12, 2012. (11/1/11)
Named Composer of the Year by the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Michael-Thomas Foumai (b.1987) was awarded the 2012 Jacob Druckman Prize from the Aspen Music Festival and School. His music has been recognized with two Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) composition awards, the Arthur and Mary Platsis Prize from the University of Michigan and was named winner of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) Merle J. Isaac Composition Competition. He has received grants from the American Music Center (AMC), Meet the Composer, Argosy Foundation and honors from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF), Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA), the mayor and 23rd State Senate Legislator of Honolulu.
Michael's orchestral works have been performed by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, New England Philharmonic Orchestra, Daegu Contemporary Music Orchestra (Korea), the Orchestra Unleashed, Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, University Philharmonia Orchestra (Michigan), University of Hawaii Symphony and the Hawaii Youth Symphony (HYS). His chamber works have been performed by Alarm Will Sound, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble DuoPlus (Germany) and Ebb and Flow Arts among others.
Performed across the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand, Michael's music has been presented at the Osaka College of Music (Japan), Shanghai New Music Week (China), Yogyakarta Contemporary Music Festival (Indonesia), Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF), Thailand International Composition Festival (TICF), MidWest Composers Symposium (Cincinnati), Daegu Contemporary Music Festival (Korea), Fresno New Music Festival, Aries Composers Festival (Colorado), June in Buffalo Festival, Mizzou New Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, EarShot New Music Readings (Buffalo, NY) and the Calarts Theatre (REDCAT) at Disney Hall (Los Angeles).
Michael holds a Bachelor (BM) in Music Composition from the University of Hawaii (UH), a Masters in Music Composition (MM) from the University of Michigan (UM) and is currently a doctoral fellow at UM. He has worked with Robert Beaser, Steven Stucky and David Felder at the EarShot New Music Readings and with Roger Reynolds, Anna Clyne, Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, George Tsontakis, Jon Magnussen and Neil McKay. He studied at the Aspen Music Festival School as a Susan and Ford Schumann fellow and has participated in masterclasses with Tristan Murail, Xu Shuya, Jia Daqun and Robert Morris. His composition teachers have been Bright Sheng, Michael Daugherty, Syd Hodkinson, Peter Askim, Byron K. Yasui, Donald Reid Womack, Takeo Kudo and Thomas Osborne.
C.V. requests, please contact the composer.
(Update: 11/23/2011)
December 2011
Michael has been selected in the Emerging Composers Program of the Staunton Music Festival in August 2012. (12/5/11)
November 2011
The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra has named Michael "Composer of the Year" for the 2011-2012 season. His work, Rat Race! will be premiered by Ryan Haskins and SCSO in Februrary 2012. (11/1/11)
August 2011
Bang! for Chmaber Ensemble has been selected for performance at the Aries Composers Festival at Colorado State University (8/30/2011)
July 2011
The New England Philharmonic Orchestra has selected The Light-Bringer from its annual call for scores for performance on October 29, 2011 at the Tsai Performance, Boston, MA.
(7/5/2011)
May 2011
Michael has been named a winner of a 59th BMI Student Composer Awards.
(5/13/2011)
April 2011
Michael will pursue his Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition as a doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan. (4/15/2011)
March 2011
Michael has been selected to participate in the Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music, June in Buffalo festival at the University at Buffalo where Calligraphy I for cello will be performed. (3/22/2011)
Michael has been selected as a resident composer for the Second Mizzou New Music Summer Festival where his new work will be performed by Alarm Will Sound. (3/5/2011)
Michael has been awarded a fellowship to attend the Aspen Music Festival and School Susan and Ford Schumann Center for Composition Studies, Individual Studies Program. (3/2/2011)
Meet the Composer has awarded a MetLife Creative Connections Grant for the premiere of
Liu-Si with Iggy Jang, Honolulu Symphony Chorus and the Hawaii Youth Symphony. (3/1/2011)
Janurary 2011
Michael has been selected to participate in the EarShot Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra New Music Readings. (1/3/2011)
Twenty Seventh Night
Chamber Opera | 9:30 min.
2 sopranos and Baritone
Violin, Viola, Cello, Percussion
Libretto: Samiya Bashir
Verison with piano reduction
also available.
Leyla - Soprano
Sagal - Soprano
Assad - Baritone
Anne Jennifer Nash, soprano
Jennifer Goltz, soprano
Ben Sieverding, baritone
Timothy Cheek, music director/piano
Joshua Major, artistic director
Roberto Kalb, conductor
Synopsis
Set against the dawn of the Somali Civil War in Mogadishu, the night is April 12, 1991, the 27th day of Ramadan (known as the "Night of Power/Destiny). Leyla has returned home to rescue her youngest sister, Sagal, who fled the rest of the family in search of their eldest brother, Assad. On this night, they must all flee the city to safety before daylight and the return of the traitors who are fighting to overtake the city.
Composed in part for the University of Michigan Museum of Art 6x8 Chamber Opera Collaborations.
Ah! Opera No Opera
Multimedia Collboration | 90 min.
For mixed intruments, electronics, dancers, actors, voices and laptops.
Text: Martine Bellen
Composer(s):
David Rosenboom
Iván Caramés Bohigas (Spain)
Michael-Thomas Foumai (US-Hawaii)
Alex Kotch (US-North Carolina)
Claudio Maldonado (Argentina-Patagonia)
Vedran Mehinovic (Bosnia)
Natalie Oram (UK)
Doo Jin Park (Korea)
Jerónimo (Jxel) Rachenberg (Mexico)
Diana Syrse Valdés Rosado (Mexico)
Xiaolang Zhou (China)
Description
A large scale multimedia work based on the Diamond Sutra. Composed by 10 international composers working with David Rosenboom. The project was funded by the Transatlantic Arts Consortium (TAC). The premiere was given on September 17,18 and 19 2009 at the Roy and Edna CalArts Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
For more infromation: www.ah-oprea.org
Based on the Greek Tragedy, a retelling of the Sopheclean tale.
ACT 1
The great city of Thebes is at the mercy of a terrible plague. A crowd of Thebans process outside the royal palace where a shrine to the god Apollo has been erected. They sing of the rise of great king Oedipus who solved the riddle of the sphinx. They sing of the plague at bay and pray that Oedipus become the savior again and cure the plague ravaging the city.
A blind prophet Tiresias, led by a small boy hears the cries of the procession and exclaims their song as monstrous. He sings a song of a terrible fate, of a boy born of royal blood, a son whose spilled his own blood and coupled with his mother to bring down a nation. The Theban crowd confused at the old prophets riddle, dismisses him as senile, blind and exclaim Oedipus to save Thebes. Oedipus and Jocasta enter from the palace, he exclaims that this is the day all suffering ends. He has sent his brother-in-law Creon to consult with Apollo’s oracle. The crowd rejoices in praise. Creon returns with news that the plague can only be cured if the killer of Laius, the last of king of Thebes, is revealed and banished. Oedipus calls upon Tiresias, the blind prophet, in hopes he will have some insight. However, Tiresias is unwilling to help and Oedipus accuses him of treason. Appalled at these accusations, the prophet exclaims that Oedipus himself is the man he seeks. The Thebans, confused, call him a liar and traitor. Oedipus, already enraged orders Tiresias to death. Tiresias exclaims he can only see what Apollo has shown him and that Creon'’s message must be heeded. Tiresias is slain.
ACT II
In the royal palace, Oedipus is shaken by the late prophet’s words. He contemplates at the possibility he could be the killer. His sings of his fate that Apollo flashed before him, how he would kill his father and rear children by his mother. He remembers the day he ran from Delphi and killed an old man out of pride. But Oedipus cannot let the fact that Tiresias uttered Creon’'s name, he wonders if a conspiracy has been hatched to take his throne. Paranoid, Oedipus orders Creon arrested. Suspected of treason, Creon quickly returns to the palace. Creon’'s attempt to vindicate himself are unsuccessful and Oedipus calls for Creon’'s death. Jocasta, hears the bickering between the two. Jocasta attempts to sooth Oedipus’' anger but is unsuccessful in persuading Creon’s innocence but is able to free Creon from a death sentence. Jocasta tells Oedipus that prophecy and men cannot be trusted. She tells him a story of how her first born son was born to kill Laius and how that child was given to a shepherd to die. Her guilt has hid the secret till now. She sings of her feelings toward Oedipus, a special connection that she can’'t grasp, as though both were meant to be together. Hearing Jocasta’'s story, Oedipus becomes aware that he and his wife share dark secrets and reaffirm their passion for each other and vow to save Thebes. Outside of the palace a messenger and his entourage arrive announcing that Oedipus' ’father Polybus has died. Oedipus receives the news as bittersweet but refuses to return to Corinth as king because of his mother, who still lives. The messenger, curious of Oedipus’' opposition reveals that Oedipus is an adopted son who was given to him by a shepherd. Oedipus, not knowing what to feel, asks if the shepherd is alive. Part of the party from Corinth, the messenger brings fourth the shepherd. Immediately, both Jocasta and the shepherd recognize each other. Jocasta realizing the prophecy had come true, begs Oedipus to send the messenger and his entourage away. However, Oedipus is dumbfounded by Jocasta’s request and tells her to leave. Jocasta in a rage pleads with Oedipus falling to the ground. Embarrassed, Oedipus orders the guards to remove Jocasta. As the guards approach, Jocasta grabs a dagger, runs towards the Shepherd and stabs him. The shepherd falls as Oedipus exclaims: What have you done? Jocasta exclaims she cannot bear to see him and that she gave her son to this shepherd. She takes her own life. Oedipus falls to his knees to embrace the body of his dead mother. He sings of how the blind may see. He removes the dagger from Jocasta’s belly, proclaims the light has taken his sight and gauges his eyes with the dagger.
Oedipus
Opera in Two Acts | 150 min.
Libretto: Michael-Thomas Foumai
Oedipus - Tenor
Jocasta - Soprano
Creon - Baritone
Tiresias - Bass
Messenger - Tenor
Shepherd - Bass
Chorus - TB
Fl, Cl, 2 Hns, Trb, Tb, Pno, Timp, 2 Perc, Strings.
ACT 2
Animal Farm
for orchestra | 15:00
3233/4331/Timp+3/Hp/Stgs
for the Hawaii Youth Symphony
I. Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad!
II. Sugar-Candy Mountain
III. Revolution!
Program Note
Composed for the Hawaii Youth Symphony, Animal Farm is inspired by George Orwells book of the same name. Orwells story is a compelling tale of an evolution of revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible. The work is in three movements and based on a rhythmic pattern that is taken from a slogan chanted by the animals, Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad (Two eights, quarter, Two eighths quarter). This slogan is the title of the first movement and is a slow and brooding march. The second movement, Sugar-candy Mountain is a place where animals of the farm believe they go after death, an animal heaven—but only through hard work can any animal be admitted. The final movement, Revolution! is an unleashing struggle against the tyranny of man, however the animals revolution is corrupt and as one tyrannical regime comes to end, another more terrible power takes its place.
Big Rip
for chamber orchestra | 6:30
112+B1/1110/2/Pno/2111
for Alarm Will Sound and the Second Mizzou New Music Festival
Oriol Sans, conductor
UM Chamber Orchestra
October 24, 2011
The Big Rip is a rip in the universe resulting from the ever-expanding explosion that started it all, the Big Bang. Eventually the expansion of the universe will take its toll, much like a balloon being over-inflated, and all that is known and unknown will end violently in one cataclysmic rip, theoretically. Musically, the goal of this piece is to produce ripping, violent, and angry music in some coherent form.
The Light-Bringer
for Orchestra | 14:00
3233/4331/Timp+3/Hp/Strings
Winner of a 59th BMI Student Composer Award
Yaniv Segal, conductor
University of Michigan Philharmonia Orchestra
Feb. 20, 2011 | Hill Auditorium
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, there are narratives that chronicle the falling of angelic beings from Heaven. Of the most notorious angels to have fallen is Lucifer. Having been one of the archangels who strived "to make his throne higher than the clouds over the earth, Michael, the Archangel suppressed Lucifer and his angels in the War of Heaven.
"Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." (Revelation 12:7-9)
The title of this piece is taken from the translation of Lucifers Latin name meaning Light-Bringer. Although based on an extra musical ideal, the work does not entirely serve a programmatic linearity but rather a basis to construct a symphonic structure. The work is based on manipulations of the Number of the Beast, six hundred and sixty six from the Book of Revelation:
"And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." (Revelation 13:17-8)
While the number has commercially been associated to the Anti-Christ, Son of Satan, for the purposes of this work, I understood it as being another representation of Lucifer. With that pretext in mind, the number six is embedded within the structure of the work: This can be heard on a small level with musical motives and sonorities being repeated six times, melodic and harmonic intervals of 6ths and its inversion, a melody or harmony of six pitches, a progression of six chords. On a larger level, the work is built on six major sections with the main climax occurring roughly 666 seconds (11 min and 6 seconds) into the work. On a visual and performance level, tempo markings are all multiples of six.
Violin Concerto: Three Visions
for Violin and Orchestra | 15:00
3233 / 4331 / Timp + 3 / Hp / Vln / Stgs
I. Iron Temple
II. Temple in the Snow
III. Ignited Temple
Jeanea Kaneshiro, violin
Hawaii Youth Symphony, Henry Miyamura, conductor
Viollin Concerto: Three Visions was composed for the Hawaii Youth Symphony. The work is inspired by several Japanese woodprints. Iron Temple is based on the image of a large Japanese temple bell. The artwork is stark with the bell itself a mammoth-like iron temple. Quite a few woodprints depict the image of a temple during snowfall. These prints are beautifully mysterious and self-reflective. The finale, Ignited Temple, is inspired by prints portraying warfare. These prints are dense, noisy, vibrant and violent with temples set ablaze in ferocious combat.
Violin Concerto - Three Visions
For Violin and Orchestra | 15:00
3-picc/2/3-bass/3-conta 4/3/3/1 Timp/3 Hp Solo Violin/Strings
I Iron Temple
II Temple in the Snow
III Ignited Temple
Commissoned by the Hawaii Youth Symphony
Divine Comedy Trilogy
for String Orchestra | I. 4:00 II. 5:00 III. 7:00
Inferno
The first of a trilogy of pieces inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy. The work begins with a quote from Carlos Gesualdo’s O vose omnes, the work is interrupted with a sudden burst into a macabre-folk like dance. Structured as a concerto grosso, several solos are pitted against the tutti ensemble with ferocity and craze where hints of Gesualdo’s composition gradually emerge from the diabolic texture.
Purgatorio
The Orchestra Unleashed, Gutsav Hoyer, conductor
El Portal Theatre, Hollywood, California
Purgatorio is inspired by the second book of the same name that is part of the famous Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The work utilizes John Dowlands Lachrimae as the representation of Dantes journey through purgatory. The opening chant-like melodic line represents the inferno and the souls that remain in the lower region. While Dowlands music is reiterated by a solo quartet, it is interrupted by a short interlude in the upper strings evoking the heavens above. As the final phrase of the Lacrimae comes to cadence, the full force of the orchestra is summoned in yearning, an evocation of the souls outcast by both the inferno and heavens. The orchestra recedes from its anguish and a brief chorale signifies Dantes ascent into Paradiso.
Paradiso
Winner of the 2010 ASTA Merle J. Isaac Composition Competition
Inspired by Dante’s work of the same name, the work evokes the timeless musical language of French Medieval composers with a touch of contemporary harmony. With long lyrical lines and medieval polyphony, the work strives to evoke an atmosphere of awe and mystery.
All works can be performed separatly.
Rat Race!
for Orchestra | 7:00
3222 / 4331 / Timp + 2 / Hp / Stgs
Rat Race is my homage to the Hollywood flm score. This high pursuit overture pulls almost every trick of the trade when it comes to that action blockbuster or that animated magical fantasy soundtrack direct with its obligatory brake drum and those low orchestral groans. As the title suggests, the music is about a fantastical amount of many many rats in pursuit of an object, cheese maybe, or perhaps being chased by a dreadful cat bent on getting a meal. From the screeching high strings, steroidal brass, heavy metal percussion and magical wild filigree, Rat Race is an overture of unrelenting action and chase music that will hopefully have the the popcorn flying.
Overture de Chat et Souris
For Orchestra | 6:00
3-picc/2/3-bass/3-conta 4/3/3/1 Timp/3 Hp Strings
For Marianne
0010/ 0000 / Timp + 2 / Pno / Stgs
Composed for Marianne Miyamura (1937-2008)
Overture to Alf layla wa layla
for Orchestra | 20:00
3222 / 4331 / Timp + 3 / Hp / Pno / Stgs
University of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, Henry Miyamura, conductor
Neil S. Blaisdell Concert Hall
Inspired by the stories in "A Thousand and One Nights."
Poeme de Fantaise
for Orchestra | 35:00
3233 / 4331 / Timp + 3 / Hp / Pno / Stgs
Commissioned by the Hawaii Youth Symphony
I. Canto
II. Elegy
III. Epiphany
Pearl City Cultural Center, Neil Blaisdell Concert Hall
Dance Concertante
for Solo String Quartet, Timpani and String Orchestra | 6:00
Commissioned by the Pacific Music Institute. Orchestrated into three groups, the idea was to create a dance-like interaction between the quartet, strings, and timpani while still maintaining the prominence of the solo concertante.
The Son of Man
for String Orchestra | 14:00
Members of the Hawaii Youth Sympony and University of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra
Michael Foumai, conductor
Orvis Auditotium, University of Hawaii
"“Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?”"
- LUKE 22:48
Fantasia on Veni Veni Emmanuel
for Violin and Orchestra | 12:00
3233 / 4331 / Timp + 2 / Hp / Vln / Stgs
Laura-Jean Keller, violin
Honolulu Stake Orchesta, Craig Young, conductor
Fantasy on the well known "Veni Veni Emmanuel." This work was commissioned by the Honolulu Stake Orchestra for violinist Laura-Jean Keller.
Dynasty - A Concerto for Orchestra
for Orchestra | 12:00
3233 / 4331 / Timp + 5 / Hp / Pno / Stgs
For the University of Hawaii Symphony. The work is a flashy showpiece based on melodies and motives from the Butterfly Lovers.
The Butterfly Lovers
for Orchestra | 22:00
Commissioned by the Hawaii Youth Symphony.
Hawaii Theatre
Based on the Chinese folktale of the same name. It is a love story of a beautiful young woman named Chu Ying Tai who disguises her self as boy to attend a prominent provincial school. On her way, she meets a handsome young man named Liang Shan Bo who is also on his way to school. The two become very good friends and through time, Chu Ying Tai falls in love with Liang Shan Bo. A full three years pass and Shan Bo is still ignorant that Ying Tai is a woman. Receiving an urgent letter from her father, Ying Tai returns home to find that a marriage has been arranged between her and a local aristicrat. A teacher informs Shan Bo that his best friend was in fact a girl who was in love with him. Feeling foolish for not seeing the many signs, Shan Bo hurries to Ying Tai, but it’s too late. After much conflict and efforts to stop the marriage, Shan Bo dies of sadness. On the wedding day, a thunderous roar from the sky rocks the earth and a gigantic lighting bolt hits Shan Bo’'s tomb opening a deep cavity in the ground. Seeing a way to finally join her love, Ying Tai runs for the grave. Chased by her father and mother she jumps into the grave killing herself. The hole in the grave collapses as the heavens continue to roar. The roaring thunder suddenly silences and two butterflies appear above the flower garden, ascending to the sky.
For shorter adaptation of this work, please seeDynasty - A Concerto for Orchestra.
Lumana'i
for Orchestra | 8:00
2222 / 4331 / Timp +4 / Pno / Stgs
Hilton Hawaiian Villiage
Lumana'i is samoan for the future. The work is dedicated the graduating class of 2005 of the Hawaii Youth Symphony.
The Bicycle Ride
for Orchestra | 16:00
3222 / 4331 / Timp + 4 / Hp / Pno / Stgs
Written for the Hawaii Youth Symphony
2004 ASCAP Morton Gould Award, Honarable Mention
It’s early dawn as you mount a bicycle. Slowly you bring your bike to the edge of a hilltop as you wait for daybreak. The sun breaks the horizon as you whip down the precipice with incredible speed. Zigzag turns and roadway obstacles test your biking skills. You swerve into a new neighborhood, this one with a straight, uncomplicated path. Soon you find yourself riding through memory lane, reminiscing of past friendships, relationships and heartaches. Suddenly you snap out of the daydream finding you’'ve become a competitor in a bike race. Behind, racers play dirty, but you manage to pull ahead. Up ahead, a cliff. Gaining momentum, you quickly pedal. Nearing the cliff, eyes shut; you leap off feeling the wind beating within your eardrums. Time drags as you quickly glance at the ground moving farther away and then closer. Landing unharmed, the race continues. The racers catch up at the sight of a deadly mountain. Higher and higher you ascends when, finally, the mountain crests and the dive down spirals of paved earth begins. Just when it looks as if you’'ve lost the racers and won, they reappear. Panicking, you pedal faster racing towards the finish never looking behind only forward. Inches and seconds away from the line, your heart pounding a million beats silences all sounds. Time almost frozen, you see the faces of hundreds cheering....Zoooooom!!!
Also available for symphonic band.
