Roger Ames
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Roger Ames was born in Cooperstown, New York, the son of a self-taught church organist and first grade teacher; his free pass to play the organ as a teenager. This and undoubtedly his mother’s 42 years as a teacher helped define his passionate love for creating music as well as teaching and conducting it.
He has written numerous large works, both sacred and secular. His Requiem for Our Time, using the poetry of Anne Sexton, has been performed both in the US and abroad, and received its New England premiere by the Boston Chorus Pro Musica in November of 2007. It was recently nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music.
In Memoriam, Warsaw 1943 was premiered by the Long Island Masterworks Chorus and Orchestra, and recently was a finalist in the New York City Opera’s VOX competition.
Several of his choral/orchestral masses were created for the Westmoreland Church, Washington, D.C. for use in their services. While at Westmoreland as minister of music, he wrote octavos and sacred music for most of the weekly services—some of which can be found in the GIA catalog.
As an opera and musical-theatre composer, the Utah Opera, Central City Opera in Denver, Lake George Opera, William Morris Agency, and others have commissioned Ames. He has written more than 20 large works for the stage. His one act opera, En Mis Palabras is now being toured throughout Colorado, and will have its premiere in the east this coming year in Pennsylvania. A commercial CD of that opera will be available soon, from Central City Opera.
His Wife Of Martin Guerre was premiered by the Hartford Stage and directed by Mark Lamos. His love of theatre has also inspired his teaching—he currently team teaches a course called Stages, which culminates in an original full length music theatre piece conceived, written, and composed by his high school students.
Ames’ fascination with American folk music and his love for choral music have inspired him to write many folk song arrangements, some of which are in the GIA catalog. His choral fantasy on Amazing Grace was commissioned and premiered by Dr. James Jordan and the Williamson Singers of Westminster Choir College, and has been performed by many choirs since it was published in 2004. His collaborations with Dr. Jordan have helped create several books of choral warm-ups and exercises, all published by GIA.
Ames was a principle author of Music! Words! Opera! Commissioned by Opera America, this textbook series guides teachers at all levels of instruction in the focused study of opera, using the medium as a gateway to interdisciplinary teaching. Two-dozen urban school districts throughout the U.S. have been involved with this program, and children who have learned to love opera by creating it themselves have written several hundred operas. Ames spends much of his summers traveling the U.S. and working with teachers to help them develop and expand this curriculum in the schools.
He has studied composition with Samuel Barber, John Kander and Robert Washburn, conducting with John Pritchard, Lukas Foss and the late Brock McElheran, and is an alumnus of Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, and Queens College, where he received his masters in music composition. He lives with his wife and lyricist Elizabeth Bassine in The Springs, East Hampton, NY, and loves walking their dogs, canoeing in Gardner’s Bay and shell fishing for their big family dinners. Beth Marie and David, his two youngest children, are currently in college—so Mr. Ames loves to hear from people interested in commissioning his work.