Walter Thompson (composer)

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Walter Thompson
Born (1952-05-31) May 31, 1952 (age 71)
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Genresexperimental music, avant-garde jazz, free jazz, free improvisation
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • musician
  • educator
Instrument(s)Saxophones, percussion, piano
Years active1974–present
LabelsDane Records, Newport Classic, Knitting Factory Works, Nine Winds Records, Novodisc Recordings, Scratchy Records, Kreating SounD, Right Brain Records
Member ofThe Walter Thompson Orchestra,
Websitesoundpainting.com wtosp.org

Walter Thompson (born May 31, 1952, in West Palm Beach, Florida) is a composer, pianist, saxophonist, percussionist, and educator. He created the multidisciplinary live composing sign language, Soundpainting.

In 2001 Thompson won a Sebastià Gasch FAD Award for Soundpainting.[1]

Early life[edit]

Son of a visual artist, Walter Thompson began learning the piano in his early year. At the age of 18, he entered the Berklee School of Music first in the performance program and then in the private study department. Among other things, he studied Graphic notation with Robert Moran. After receiving a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts,[2] he moved to Woodstock where he studied woodwind and composition with Anthony Braxton for 8 years. He also studied percussion with Bob Moses and modern dance with Ruth Ingalls at the Woodstock Playhouse.[3] Thompson also occasionally attended the Creative Music Studio founded by Karl Berger.[4]

Soundpainting[edit]

In the summer of 1974, he invited 25 musicians from the Creative Music Studio and 7 dancers from the Woodstock Playhouse to gather and form a multi-disciplinary orchestra. This orchestra gave birth to a primary form of Soundpainting, which would take years to evolve into a full-fledged language.[5]

The name "Soundpainting", sometimes considered as misleading, comes from Thompson's brother Charles, who, after attending a concert, noticed similarities between the physical attitude of Thompson conducting his orchestra and their father's physical attitude to his paintings.[6]

Influences[edit]

Jackson Pollock, Charles Ives, Meredith Monk, John Cage, Anthony Braxton, Earle Brown... among many other musicians and artists, Thompson has been mostly influenced by Cecil Taylor and Marilyn Crispell as a pianist.[6]

Collaborative work[edit]

Thompson has composed Soundpainting pieces with many contemporary orchestras in many cities around the world, including Barcelona, Paris, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Oslo, Berlin, Bergen, Lucerne, Copenhagen, and Reykjavik, among others, and has taught Soundpainting at the Conservatoire de Paris; Eastman School of Music; Iceland Academy of the Arts; University of Michigan; Grieg Academy in Bergen, Norway; University of Iowa; Oberlin College Conservatory of Music; and New York University, among many others.[7]

Selected recordings[edit]

1970-1980:

  • Four Compositions with Walter Thompson and Anthony Braxton (Dane Records, recorded at Grog Kill Studio, Willow, N.Y., 1977)
  • Stardate, Walter Thompson (Dane Records, Recorded at Intermix Studio, Los Angeles, California, 1980).

1980-1990:

  • ARC Quartet, ARC Quartet: Walter Thompson, Steve Rust, Harvey Sorgen and Robert Windbiel (Recorded at Dane Studios, Woodstock, N.Y., Dane Records, 1981)
  • 520 OUT, The Walter Thompson Ensemble (Recorded at Classic Sound, NYC, December 16, 1984 - February 2 and March 16, 1985, Dane Records, 1985).

1990-2000:

  • Not for Rollo, The Walter Thompson Big Band (Ottava Records, 1990).
  • Symphony of the Universe, Wendy Mae Chambers and the Walter Thompson Orchestra (Newport Classic, 1993)
  • John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory, John Zorn (Knitting Factory Works, 1995)
  • The Colonel, The Walter Thompson Orchestra (Recorded at Kampo Studio, Nine Winds Records, 1998).
  • New York Soundpainting Orchestra, with Soundpainter's Walter Thompson and Evan Mazunik (Recorded in New York City, Dane Recordings, 1998)

2000-2010:

  • PEXO-A Soundpainting Symphony (Nine Winds Records, recorded at Clinton Recording Studio, 2001).
  • Soundpainting Haydn, Gil Selinger (cello) and Walter Thompson (Soundpainter) (Novodisc Recordings, 2006)
  • Side Show Tim, Walter Thompson (Soundpainter) (Recorded at the University of Iowa, Dane Recordings, 2006)
  • Code of the West, Joe Gallant & Illuminati with Walter Thompson (Alto Saxophone) (Scratchy Records, 2007)
  • Steve Rust Soundpainting Sextet, Steve Rust's ensemble with Walter Thompson as Soundpainter (Dane Recordings, 2007)

2010-2020:

  • Twin Seasons, Walter Thompson and SP4tet: Olivia de Prato, David Grunberg, Lev Zhurbin, Gil Selinger (Dane Recordings, 2010)
  • Six Soundpainting Compositions with Anthony Braxton, Walter Thompson and the Walter Thompson Orchestra (Recorded at the Irondale Center, Brooklyn, New York, 2010)
  • Walter Thompson/Olle Karlsson Duo (Recorded in Helsingborg, Sweden, Dane Recordings, 2012)

2020-nowadays:

  • Ascending Structure, Summit Quartet, (Recorded December 29, 2021 in Denver, CO, Kreating SounD, 2022)
  • New Air, Summit Quartet (Right Brain Records, 2022)
  • Business, Summit Quartet (Recorded January 7, 2023 in Denver, CO, Kreating SounD, 2022)
  • Lost While Found, SeFa LoCo + Thompson (Recorded January 7, 2023 at Mighty Fine Productions in Denver, CO, Kreating SounD, 2023)
  • What Can We Say?, SeFa LoCo + Thompson (Recorded January 7, 2023 at Mighty Fine Productions in Denver, CO, Right Brain Records, 2023)
  • Run With It, SeFa LoCo + Thompson (Recorded January 7, 2023 at Mighty Fine Productions in Denver, CO, Kreating SounD, 2024)

Selected publications[edit]

  • Soundpainting Workbook 1 – The Art of Live Composing for Musicians (Level 1).
  • Soundpainting Workbook 2 - The Art of Live Composing for Musicians (Level 2).
  • Soundpainting Workbook 3 – The Art of Live Composing for Actors and Dancers (Levels 1 and 2).
  • Colors for Chorus – Boosey and Hawkes.
  • Introduction to Soundpainting – Eufonia Núm.047 (in Spanish).

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Premis FAD Sebastià Gasch d'Arts Parateatrals". 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  2. ^ "Quelques élèves et Walter Thompson, inventeur du Soundpainting, lors d'un atelier d'improvisation collective à Aubervilliers". France Culture (in French). 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  3. ^ Langston, Bonnie; Langstony, Bonnie (2001-06-22). "Sound painting". Daily Freeman. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  4. ^ "History". Creative Music Studio. 2018-05-18. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  5. ^ Soundpainting with Walter Thompson - Visiting Artist at Berklee Valencia Campus, retrieved 2024-03-18
  6. ^ a b Walter Thompson : a dive into Soundpainting, retrieved 2024-03-18
  7. ^ DUBY, Marc (2007-08-13). Soundpainting as a system for the collaborative creation of music in performance (PhD thesis). University of Pretoria.

External links[edit]

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