Burnett Thompson
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Burnett Thompson, is a Pianist, composer, and educator. He was educated at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Vienna, Austria, and the New England Conservatory of Music. Further studies included work with pianist William Masselos.
In 1981 he founded the Foggy Bottom Chamber Music Society, which included members of the National Symphony Orchestra, the group was regularly coached by Mstislav Rostropovich and performed in a documentary about the eminent cellist.
At the same time, for 17 years, he hosted a well-known Washington, D.C. night club as the house pianist. Guest artists included Chris Vadala, Keter Betts, Louis Bellson, Pete Barenbregge, among countless others, and it was during this time that he developed his voice as a jazz performer and composer. In the mid 90's, he produced 4 recordings in the jazz and improvisational genre which were met with critical acclaim. He produced the Phillips Collections Musicales in 1994 and 1995 at the renowned Phillips Collection Museum in Washington, D.C. The Musicales featured dozens of the musicians for which Washington is known, jazz and classical alike.
Over the years he has performed as soloist with several orchestras, including the Washington Chamber Symphony, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, National Chamber Orchestra, Arlington Symphony, Greenville Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, and the American Youth Philharmonic. Concert collaborations have included recitals with cellist Han-Na Chang, Chinese erhu virtuoso Xiaohui Ma, Arturo Sandoval, oboist Rudy Vrbsky, and the Manchester String Quartet. Additionally, he has performed as orchestral pianist with several orchestras, and dabbles at classical guitar, alto saxophone and double bass.
In the late 90's, he began a unique collaboration with Lorin Maazel. Mr. Thompson assisted Mr. Maazel in an educational enterprise, working with school children of all ages in a novel general music program. He also played chamber music with Mr. Maazel, arranged, produced and performed in several recording projects of Mr. Maazel's own compositions, in addition to production of an orchestral concert with tenor Jose Carreras.
In 2000, he was commissioned to write an orchestral work for the National Chamber Orchestra, for which he composed his Concerto for Orchestra and Improvised Piano. During the same time period, he hosted performance tours of the Smithsonian's Piano 300 collection.
Mr. Thompson's collaborations with Xiaohui Ma have included performances of Chinese traditional music and jazz at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Castleton Theater, China TV (CCTV), the Shanghai Library, and the Jingan Cultural Center in Shanghai.
[edit] Recordings (Solace Records)
Inventions, Improvised pieces, solo Piano; 1984.
Uncertain Times, Jazz Standards, Improvised pieces, solo Piano; 1994.
Second Smile, Jazz Standards, original compositions; Piano, Bass, Drums; 1995.
Creation: A Jazz Suite, original compositions for jazz sextet, based on the first chapter of the book of Genesis; 1996.
Beauty's Rose, Original improvisations based on the Sonnets of Shakespeare, solo Piano; 1997.
[edit] Compositions
Jazz, Etc 9 pieces, 1993.
The Planets 9 pieces composed for the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, 1998.
6 Intermediate pieces for Jazz Piano A variety of jazz piano styles for the intermediate/advanced piano student, 2003.
