Mark Kuss

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Categories: 20th century American composers, 21st century American composers, American contemporary classical composers, New England Conservatory alumni, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters awardee, National Endowment for the Arts funding, Jerome Foundation funding, Meet the Composer awardee, A.S.C.A.P. prizewinner, Copland Foundation funding, Pulitzer nominee.

Mark Kuss (born 1960) is an American composer, pianist, and violist. Kuss has worked with saxophonist Branford Marsalis, the Ciompi String Quartet, and Poet Laureate Richard Wilbur, has written concerti for numerous soloists, and was pianist in Hesperus, Ensemble in Residence at the Museum of American History 1990–1997.

1. Partial list of works

L’homme Armé for Small Ensemble (1988–89)

Contralumina for Recorder, two Violas da Gamba, and Lute (1992)

Leaves (with text from Walt Whitman) for Large Ensemble and Baritone (1993)

Contraband for Violin and Piano (1993)

Music for Channel Surfers for Wind Ensemble (1993)

Folk (and Pseudo Folk) Songs for Clarinet and Piano (1994)

Power Synth Piano Solo (1994)

Piano Trio (1995)

My Favorite Things for Viola and Piano (1995)

American Triptych for String Quartet and Electronics (1996)

Tales and Lullabies for String Quartet and Soprano (1999)

The Show! (with text from Donald Barthelme) for Large Ensemble and Baritone (2000, revised 2022)

Jumpcut Rag for Piano Solo (2000)

Ten American Folksongs for Piano and Cello (2003)

Reminiscence for String Quartet and Soprano Saxophone (2003)

Concerto for Soprano Saxophone (2006, revised 2021)

Cello Concerto (2009)

Concerto for Viola (2010)

Sounds. Distant. for Solo Violin, Guzheng, and Chamber Orchestra (2011)

Elegy for String Quartet and Recorded Sound (2012)

11 Preludes for Piano (2014–15)

Autumnal for Violin and Chamber Orchestra (2018)

Sonatina for Piano Four Hands (2019–20)

A COVID Elegy for Soprano Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra (2021)

2. Collaborations -- Collaborated with Poet Laureate Richard Wilbur at Monadnock Summer Music Festival; five-time Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon; jazz great Branford Marsalis; Ciompi String Quartett; Hesperus, Ensemble in Residence at the Museum of American History.

3. Awards and nominations

Charles Ives Award, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, Meet the Composer, A.S.C.A.P., the Copland Foundation, Concerto for Soprano Saxophone nominated for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in music.

4. Recordings

Original Ragtime commissioned and performed by Virginia Eskin on the Koch International label Ten American Folksongs on Gasparo label, 2004. Solo album of original chamber music on Gasparo label. 

5. Critical Reception

1992 Contraband San Francisco Chronicle, 1 October 1992, Robert Commanday .

1993 Leaves. 20th Century Consort. Washington Post 1 November 1993, Judy Gruber.  

2000 The Show!, 20th Century Consort. Washington Post, 6 November 2000, John Pitcher.

2003 Ten American Folksongs. 20th Century Consort. Washington Post 10 February 2003, Joseph McLellan.

2004 Tales and Lullabies, Nnenna Freelon. Classical Voice of North Carolina 17 June 2004, Jeffrey Rossman.

2006 Concerto for Saxophone. New York Times 3/5/2006, Jane Gordon; New Haven Register 5 March 2006, Donna Doherty. 

2009 Cello Concerto. Cellist Mihai Marica. New Haven Register 1 May 2009, Donna Doherty.

2010 Concerto for Viola. Violist Marlene Segelstein with Orchestra New England. New Haven Register 4 April 2010, Donna Doherty.

2011 Sounds. Distant. Violinist Hsiao-Mei Ku and Guzheng Master Jennifer Chang.  New Haven Register 1 May 2011, Donna Doherty.

2012 Elegy for String Quartet and Recorded Sound. Setar player Mani Mirzaee with New Haven String Quartet. New Haven Register 2 December 2012, Donna Doherty.  

Work performed by: Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, cellist Fred Raimi, the 20th/21st Century Consort, the Folger Consort, the State Orchestra of Romania, the Warsaw Radio Orchestra, saxophonist Branford Marsalis with Ciompi String Quartet, saxophonist Branford Marsalis with New Haven Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jung-Ho Pak, the 20th/21st Century Consort from 1990 through 2012, at Merkin Concert Hall, by Alan Feinberg pianist at the 92nd Street Y, at the MacDowell Colony, at the Swannanoa Music Festival, at the Monadnock Music Festival, at San Francisco's Composers Inc., at the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, by Mihai Marica and the Music For Life Orchestra at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, throughout the U.S., and in Canada, Japan and Europe. Kuss has also produced soundtracks and sound design for a variety of independent films and theater productions; noise-rock scene building and performing on Folktek synthesizers which employ non-traditional user interfaces.

Related Music Activities

Founding partner and CEO of Unison-Design, a music software company which produces phone apps and software solutions designed for use with Digital Audio Workstations including Ableton LIVE, Logic, GB and PreSonus.

Board member of Music For Life International since 2011, Interim Chairman since 2019. Music for Life is an orchestral paradigm which models profound listening, individual and communal accountability, mutual empowerment, collaborative leadership, and conflict resolution.

References

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