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THOLLEM McDONAS
Thollem McDonas is an American pianist, improviser, composer, singer-songwriter, touring performer, musical educator and social critic. His musical compositions and performances have ranged from classical, and free jazz, to experimental and punk rock. He has toured North America and Europe since 2006, performing solo works and collaborating with an array of musicians, dancers, dance companies and filmmakers.
Origins and Musical Beginnings
McDonas began studying piano at the age of 5. His mother was a piano teacher and this led him to study the instrument. At the age of 14, he began teaching and authoring his own compositions. Just after completing his studies in Piano Performance and Composition, the Persian Gulf War hit. He abandoned the academy in his 20s to pursue direct political action. Eventually he merged these concerns, using music and performance at protests to draw attention to pertinent issues. Eventually he resumed his professional music career on [his] own terms, integrating his ... political ideologies into his compositions and performances.
Recording projects include:
Tsigoti
Tsigoti is Thollem McDonas’ most overtly political project. A freewheeling anarcho-punk group, Tsigoti serves as a literal mouthpiece for his activism. Thollem sings politically charged lyrics alongside his off-kilter piano playing. The group is rounded out by Italian musicians Andrea Caprara (drums), Matteo Bennici (bass), and Jacopo Andreini (guitar).
Estamos Ensemble
McDonas is the founding director of Estamos Ensemble, an international musical group whose purpose is to promote more dialogue and collaboration across the U.S. - Mexican border. In 2011, Edgetone Records released a double disc album by Estamos Ensemble premiering original works by William Parker, Nels Cline, Pauline Oliveros, Joan Jeanrenaud, Vinny Golia, Ana Lara, Juan Felipe Waller and Jorge Torres Sáenz.
Debussy Project
In 2008, McDonas was invited by Musee Labenche to perform works by Claude Debussy on the last piano Debussy owned. He was accompanied by world renown contrabassist Stefano Scodanibbio. The resulting album, OnDebussy'sPianoAnd..., was released in 2010.
Collaborations include:
• Germaul Barnes• Nels Cline• Martha Colburn• John Dieterich• Arrington de Dionyso• José Limón Dance Company• William Parker (musician)• Rent Romus• Stefano Scodanibbio• Mike Watt
Composer, teacher, author
As a composer, Thollem has received Meet the Composer: Creative Connections, 2007 and American Music Center: CAP (2010) 'Stirring Awake' debuted at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (Aug. 19, 2010). He was awarded the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation: USArtists (2010) as director of Estamos Ensemble.
As a teacher, Thollem tours with his project The Everywhere Quintet. The musicians involved are entirely different at each performance, and they represent countless genres or styles of playing.
As a writer, Thollem's essay "The Peripatetic Life of an Improvising Musician" was published in the Anthology of Essays on Deep Listening (The Deep Listening Institute, 2012).
Discography
• Everything's Going Everywhere - with Rick Rivera (Edgetone Records, 2005)• Sono Contento Di Stare Qua - with Edoardo Ricci (Edgetone Records, 2006)• Nuclearbomb Cavepainting (Pax Recordings, 2006)• I'll Meet You Halfway Out In The Middle Of It All - with Rick Rivera (Edgetone Records, 2006)• Bloom - Bloom Project: Thollem McDonas/Rent Romus with Jon Brumit and Steven Baker (Edgetone Records, 2006)• Poor Stop Killing Poor (Edgetone Records, 2007)• Two Revolutions - Box Deserter (Edgetone Records, 2008)• TheBrutalRealityOfModernBrutality - WarIsTerror TerrorIsWar / Tsigoti (Edgetone Records, 2008)• Intuition, Science, And Sex - with Arrington de Dionyso (Edgetone Records, 2008)• Somuchheaven Somuchhell (Saravah, 2008)• Prismatic Season - Bloom Project (Edgetone Records, 2008)• Gigantomachia - with Arrington De Dionyso/Gregg Skloff/John Niekrasz (ESP-Disk, 2009)• Racingthesun Chasingthesun (Creative Sources, 2008)• Noble Art - with Nicola Guazzaloca (Amirani Records, 2009)• Sudden Aurora - Bloom Project (Edgetone Records, 2009)• AllForNow - Bad News From Houston with John Dieterich (Dromos Records, 2010)• Gone Beyond Reason To Find One (Edgetone Records, 2010)• OnDebussy'sPianoAnd... - with Italian contra bassist Stefano Scodanibbio (Die Schachtel, 2010)• Private Poverty Speaks To The People Of The Party - Tsigoti (ESP-Disk, 2010)• JimpaniKustakwaKaJankwariteecherï - Estamos Ensemble (Edgetone Records, 2011)• The Gowanus Session - with William Parker and Nels Cline (Porter Records, 2012)• You Are Always On Our Minds - The Hand to Man Band: Mike Watt/John Dieterich/Thollem McDonas/Tim Barnes (Post-Consumer Records, 2012)• Imagination Liberation Front Thinks Again - Tsigoti (Post-Consumer Records, 2012)• Polishing the Mirror - Magimc Trio: Edoardo Marraffa/Stefano Giust/Thollem McDonas (Amirani Records, 2012)• Read Between the Lines … Think Outside Them - Tsigoti (Post-Consumer Records, 2013)• In the Valley of the Cloudbuilder - Bad News From Houston with John Dieterich (Post-Consumer Records, 2013)• Surprising Wooden Clocks - Whistling Joy Jumpers: Thollem Electric/Jad Fair/Brian Chase (Thick Syrup Records, 2013)• Dear Future (WIld Silence, 2013)• People's Historia - Estamos Trio: Thollem McDonas/Carmina Escobar/Milo Tamez (Relative Pitch Records, 2013)• Emergency Management Heist - Soar Trio: Skeeter C.R. Shelton/Joel Peterson/Thollem McDonas (Edgetone Records, 2013)
