Richard Beaudoin
Richard Beaudoin (PhD) studied composition in London at the Royal Academy of Music, and in the United States at Brandeis University and Amherst College. His works have been commissioned and performed by some of the finest musicians in Europe and America, including the Staatstheater-Kassel, soprano Annette Dasch, the Chiara String Quartet, pianist Marilyn Nonken, organist Christian Wilson, pianist Constantine Finehouse, and tenor Joseph Kaiser. He has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, and has worked at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. In fall 2008 Mr. Beaudoin will begin his appointment as Lecturer on Music at Harvard University.
Featured Performances
- Jul24
- Greenwood, Cummington, Massachusetts
The Chiara String Quartet performs String Quartet: Memor fui nocte nominis tui
- Sep9
- Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Dinosaur Annex Ensemble, with tenor Frank Kelley, perform Eunoia Songs as part of the Ditson Festival of Contemporary Musicd
- Octtba
- Berlin, Germany
Ulrich Naudé, piano, premieres Still Lifes
In Development
Pierre at London's Arcola Theatre
On 22 August 2007, the first act of Mr. Beaudoin's opera-in-progress, Pierre, based on Herman Melville's 1852 novel, was staged at the Arcola Theatre in London. The 35-minute act was directed by Andrew Steggall, and included a remarkable cast of singers: the Canadian tenor Joseph Kaiser, the German soprano Annette Dasch, the American mezzo-soprano Abigail Fischer, and the British soprano Rachel Nicholls. The ensemble was conducted by Christopher Ward of Germany's Staatstheater Kassel, and performed in piano reduction by Constantine Finehouse. The work received an excellent review, and Mr. Beaudoin is presently completing the final two acts.
Review of the production of Pierre, Act I at the Arcola Theatre, 22 August 2007:
“The music for Pierre is carefully considered and masterly in its composition. The vocal writing was effective, and the word setting just about perfect—it would be hard to imagine a more sympathetic or polished realization of Beaudoin’s work on the project up to now; it made me eager to see and hear the whole opera when it’s finished.”
—John Rodney Lister, published in the journal Tempo, Vol. 62
