Albert, Donnie Ray
Capuzzi, Giuseppe Antonio
Carrettin, Zachary
CSUN Wind Ensemble
Drew, James
Estes, Steve
Ewer, Gregory
Floyd, Carlisle
Goldsmith, Kenneth
Harlow, Russell
Hogan, Moses
Jensen, John
Johnson, Hall
King, Terry
LaMotte, Adam
Lloyd, Jr., Charles
Mirecourt Trio
Morgan, Leslie
Owens, Robert
Reale, Paul
Ritacca, Jo Anne
Tarragó, Leticia
Smith, Hale
Vandervelde, Janika
Whitwell, David

CARLISLE FLOYD
(b. 1926)

Cinnabar Recordings:
In Recital

Carlisle Floyd is one of the foremost composers and librettists of opera in the United States today. Born in 1926, Floyd earned B.M. and M.M. degrees in piano and composition with Ernst Bacon at Syracuse University, studying piano additionally with Sidney Foster and, at the Aspen Institute, with Rudolf Firkusny. He began his teaching career in 1947 at Florida State University, remaining there until 1976, when he accepted the prestigious M.D. Anderson Professorship in the University of Houston. In addition, he is co-founder with David Gockley of the Houston Opera Studio, a training and performance program for young singers and coaches-accompanists, jointly created by the University of Houston and Houston Grand Opera.

Floyd’s operas are regularly performed in this country and in Europe; at least two of them have entered the permanent operatic repertoire. He first achieved national prominence with the New York premiere of his opera, Susannah, by the New York City Opera in 1956, after its world premiere at Florida State University in 1955. In 1957, it won its composer the New York Critic’s Circle Award and subsequently was chosen to be America’s official operatic entry at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. In 1966, it was the only contemporary opera to be included in the inaugural season of the Metropolitan Opera’s National Company. In the years since its premiere it has been seen in every major American city as well as in England and Germany, and has been produced countless times by professional companies as well as in universities and colleges. The Virgin Classics recording won international acclaim and a Grammy for Best Opera Recording.

Of Mice and Men is Floyd’s other most often performed work. Based on the Steinbeck novel, it was commissioned by the Ford Foundation and was given its premiere by the Seattle Opera in 1970. Floyd’s most recent operas, Bilby’s Doll (1976) and Willie Stark (1981) were both commissioned and produced by the Houston Grand Opera, the latter in association with the Kennedy Center. In 1990, he completed a new version of The Passion of Jonathan Wade, initially commissioned by the Ford Foundation for the New York City Opera which gave it its world premiere in 1962. The new version, which involved extensive revision of the libretto as well as a virtually new musical score, was a co-commission of the Houston Grand Opera and the Greater Miami Opera, and had its world premiere in Houston in January, 1991. Floyd’s latest opera, Cold Sassy Tree, received its premiere at Houston Grand Opera in April, 2000. Subsequently, it has been performed by Austin Lyric Opera, Central City Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Carolina, Opera Omaha, San Diego Opera, and Utah Opera.

Recently, the composer has gained increasing attention for his non-operatic works. 1993 saw the New York premiere of Floyd’s orchestral song cycle, Citizens of Paradise, based on poems and letters of Emily Dickinson. Floyd also completed a large-scale work for chorus, bass-baritone soloist, and orchestra entitled A Time to Dance, commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association and performed by the famed Westminster Choir and the San Antonio Symphony at the Association’s Biennial Convention in March, 1994.

Floyd has been the recipient of a number of honors and awards: a Guggenheim Fellowship (1956); Citation of Merit from the National Association of American Conductors and Composers (1957); the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation Award from the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce (1959); the distinguished professor of Florida State University Award (1964); a Resolution of Appreciation by the State of Florida Legislature (1972); selected as one of Florida’s first group of citizens designated as Patriots for the Bicentennial; an honorary doctorate from Dickinson College (1983); and the National Opera Institute’s Award for Service to American Opera, the highest honor the institute bestows, also in 1983. He served on the Music Panel of the National Endowment of the Arts from 1974-80, and was the first chairman of the Opera/Musical Theater Panel when the program was created by the Endowment in 1976. Major commissions have come from the Ford Foundation and the Kennedy Center Foundation, as well as from the New York City, Santa Fe, Houston, and Greater Miami opera companies. Carlisle Floyd is published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes.

Copyright 2002. Boosey.com. Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes

Recipient of the 2004
National Medal of Arts.