Walter Thompson (born May 31, 1952, in West Palm Beach, Florida) is a composer, pianist, saxophonist, percussionist, and educator. He created the multidisciplinary live composing sign language, Soundpainting.

In 2001 Thompson won a Sebastià Gasch FAD Award for Soundpainting.[1]

Collaborative work

Thompson has composed Soundpaintings with many contemporary orchestras in many cities around the world, including Barcelona, Paris, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Oslo, Berlin, Bergen, Lucerne, Copenhagen, and Reykjavik, among others, and has taught Soundpainting at the Conservatoire de Paris; Eastman School of Music; Iceland Academy of the Arts; University of Michigan; Grieg Academy in Bergen, Norway; University of Iowa; Oberlin College Conservatory of Music; and New York University, among many others.[2]

Selected recordings

1970-1980:

  • Four Compositions with Walter Thompson and Anthony Braxton (Dane Records, recorded at Grog Kill Studio, Willow, N.Y., 1977)
  • Stardate, Walter Thompson (Dane Records, Recorded at Intermix Studio, Los Angeles, California, 1980).

1980-1990:

  • ARC Quartet, ARC Quartet: Walter Thompson, Steve Rust, Harvey Sorgen and Robert Windbiel.(Recorded at Dane Studios, Woodstock, N.Y., Dane Records, 1981)
  • 520 OUT, The Walter Thompson Ensemble (recorded at Classic Sound, NYC, December 16, 1984 - February 2 and March 16, 1985, Dane Records, 1985).

1990-2000:

  • Not for Rollo, The Walter Thompson Big Band (Ottava Records, 1990).
  • Symphony of the Universe, Wendy Mae Chambers and the Walter Thompson Orchestra (Newport Classic, 1993)
  • John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory, John Zorn (Knitting Factory Works, 1995)
  • The Colonel, The Walter Thompson Orchestra (Recorded at Kampo Studio, Nine Winds Records, 1998).

2000-2010:

  • PEXO-A Soundpainting Symphony (Nine Winds Records, recorded at Clinton Recording Studio, 2001).
  • Soundpainting Haydn, Gil Selinger (cello) and Walter Thompson (soundpainter) (Novodisc Recordings, 2006)
  • Code of the West, Joe Gallant & Illuminati (Scratchy Records, 2007)
  • Steve Rust Soundpainting Sextet, Steve Rust's ensemble with Walter Thompson as Soundpainter (Dane Recordings, 2007)

2010-2020:

  • Twin Seasons, Walter Thompson and SP4tet: Olivia de Prato, David Grunberg, Lev Zhurbin, Gil Selinger (Dane Recordings, 2010)

2020-nowadays:

  • Ascending Structure, Summit Quartet, (Recorded December 29, 2021 in Denver, CO, Kreating SounD, 2022)
  • New Air, Summit Quartet (Right Brain Records, 2022)
  • Business, Summit Quartet (Recorded January 7, 2023 in Denver, CO, Kreating SounD, 2022)
  • Lost While Found, SeFa LoCo + Thompson (Recorded January 7, 2023 at Mighty Fine Productions in Denver, CO, Kreating SounD, 2023)
  • What Can We Say?, SeFa LoCo + Thompson (Recorded January 7, 2023 at Mighty Fine Productions in Denver, CO, Right Brain Records, 2023)
  • Run With It, SeFa LoCo + Thompson (Recorded January 7, 2023 at Mighty Fine Productions in Denver, CO, Kreating SounD, 2024)

Selected publications

  • Soundpainting Workbook 1 – The Art of Live Composing for Musicians (Level 1).
  • Soundpainting Workbook 2 - The Art of Live Composing for Musicians (Level 2).
  • Soundpainting Workbook 3 – The Art of Live Composing for Actors and Dancers (Levels 1 and 2).
  • Colors for Chorus – Boosey and Hawkes.
  • Introduction to Soundpainting – Eufonia Núm.047 (in Spanish).

References

  1. ↑ "Premis FAD Sebastià Gasch d'Arts Parateatrals". 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  2. ↑ DUBY, Marc (2007-08-13). Soundpainting as a system for the collaborative creation of music in performance (PhD thesis). University of Pretoria.
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