BIOGRAPHY
Richard Peaslee
Composer Richard Peaslee (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Marat/Sade) has composed for stage, screen, and concert hall. Symphony orchestras from Buffalo to Philadelphia offer his concert works, while his jazz pieces have been performed by William Russo's London Jazz Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and the Stan Kenton and Ted Heath Orchestras. Numbering among his many compositions for the stage in New York, London, and Paris are Peter Brook/Royal Shakespeare Company's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Antony and Cleopatra; Peter Hall's Animal Farm at the National Theatre; and scores for Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. He has composed several musicals for family audiences—The Green Knight, The Snow Queen, and Tanglewood Tales among them. In dance, his pieces include Touch for David Parsons (at the New York City Ballet) and collaborations with Elisa Monte, Lar Lubovitch, and Twyla Tharp. As for television and film, he orchestrated the Bill Campbell/Bill Moyer series The Power of Myth as well as Claudia Shear's Blown Sideways Through Life for American Playhouse. He counts among his many awards The National Academy of Arts and Letters Marc Blitzstein Award; Obie and Villager Awards; and several NEA and NYFA Fellowships.