Sonora Productions S022600CD

1. Thomas A. Blomster: A Brighton Serenade
2. Woyciech Kilar: Orawa
3-5. Jean Berger: Simfonia di San Petronio
6. Philip Glass: Arioso No. 2
7-8. C. Howard Treibitz: Agnostic

Thomas Alvin Blomster was born in Portland, Oregon in I960. He grew up in Boulder, Colorado where his father was a professor of Germanic Languages and a music critic and his mother taught piano and humanities. Blomster began writing music at the age of four when he started percussion lessons with John Galm and piano lessons with his mother. George Crumb and David Burge were members of the faculty at the University of Colorado when he was growing up, so Blomster had frequent contact with contemporary music. At the age of 14 Blomstet was accepted as a percussion student at the Aspen Music Festival where he studied with Charlie Owen of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He performed and spent time with Karel Husa, Aaron Copland, Elliot Carter, Phillip Glass, and the Harry Partch Ensemble.

Blomster spent time studying in Germany and Switzerland. He attended college in Louisville, Kentucky, where he joined the Louisville Orchestra. In college and with the Louisville Orchestra he studied composition with Claude Baker and met, performed, and recorded music by David Amram, Michael Colgrass, Morton Gould, Karel Husa, and a host of other composers.

Blomster has participated in the Wyoming Arts Council Meet the Composer program and been a composer in residence at the Challenge School in Denver, Colorado.

In the fall of 1984 Blomster joined the Denver Chamber Orchestra and pursued his love of jazz with his own group. The Utopian Futurist Society.

In 1995 Blomster and his colleague Wayne Templeman founded The Mercury Ensemble, now in its seventh season.

Thomas Blomster has performed, conducted, and recorded with the Louisville Orchestta, the Colorado Springs Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Boulder Brass, the Utopian Futurist Society, and Chicago blues woman Joanna Connor.

NOTES ABOUT THE MERCURY ENSEMBLE
Mercury Ensemble was founded in 1995 by its Music Director and Conductor Thomas A. Blomster and his colleague Wayne Templeman who became the Ensemble’s Artistic Administrator and principal cellist. Templeman is a well-known recitalist in Colorado. He has performed as soloist with the Denver Chamber Orchestra, the Darmstadt Akademie Orchestra, the Fort Collins Symphony, the Casper Symphony, and the Breckenridge Festival Orchestra. The Mercury Ensemble showcases some of the finest professional musicians in the greater Denver metropolitan area. Members of The Mercury Ensemble also perform with the Central City Opera Orchestra, the Colorado Springs Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Colorado Ballet Orchestra and the St. John’s Festival Orchestra.

Hank Troy, pianist started piano lessons in Tennessee at the age of five. After moving to Denver, Colorado, he studied improvisation with several jazz pianists. He has performed professionally in Colorado since 1971, beginning with the presentation of concerts of ragtime and the accompaniment of silent films. After a five-year stint as music director for a local theatre, he became pianist with the Queen City Jazz Band, a traditional Dixieland band. He now performs with his own swing quartet. In addition to his performing career, Mr. Troy has composed music for television and radio, and has written songs for children’s theatre. He has been on-air host for musical showcase productions on radio and television.

Recorded at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Arvada, Colorado
Recording Engineers: Justin Peacock, Darren Curtis Skanson, Scott “Gusty” Christensen
Editing/Sound/Mastering: Scott “Gusty” Christensen
Mastering: Jonathan Wyner, MWorks
Producer: Thomas A. Blomster
Cover/Booklet Design: Susanna Zaks
Front Cover: Barr Lake, Colorado
Executive Producer: Sofia Gliksberg

Amazon