“Spectacular precision...profoundly enjoyable.”
THOMAS FLIPPIN is an original and versatile voice in the world of contemporary music. Whether premiering new works with his pioneering classical guitar ensemble, Duo Noire; performing avant-garde art songs on the theorbo as part of Alicia Hall Moran’s Motown Project; playing otherworldly electric guitar in Heartbeat Opera’s The Extinctionist; or plucking the banjo in the American Repertory Theater’s The Black Clown, Flippin’s playing has been hailed as "lovely" (New York Times), and "spectacularly precise" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
Recent concert highlights include: premiering a new double concerto for classical and blues guitars by Chris Brubeck with the Memphis Symphony, performances at Carnegie Hall with Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival with the American Repertory Theater, the 2022 Guitar Foundation of America Convention, National Sawdust, The Metropolitan Museum, The Cleveland Orchestra, Beijing’s Peking University, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Duo Noire premiering Held Together by GRAMMY-nominated composer Nathalie Joachim.
Flippin's 2018 Duo Noire album, Night Triptych, was released on New Focus Recordings as the culmination of a 2015 project he launched through the Diller Quaile School of Music to address the lack of women composers programmed in classical guitar concerts. Featuring new works exclusively by accomplished women composers, it was praised for being a "truly pathbreaking recording" (AllMusic), that is "astounding" for its "sheer musicality" and "goldmine of ideas and feelings” (Stereophile). It was named Editor’s Choice for classical music albums that year by both All Music and I Care if You Listen.
As a composer, recent commissions include a string quartet for the Composing Inclusion joint project by Juilliard, the New York Philharmonic, and the American Composers Forum; the Guitar Foundation of America; The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society in partnership with the Cleveland Orchestra; a guitar orchestra piece for the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University; the Yale School of Music Guitar Department; and the New York City Classical Guitar Orchestra. As a student, Flippin studied composition in courses by David Lang, Martin Bresnick, and Michelle McQuade DeWhirst, with additional lessons with Ingram Marshall and John Anthony Lennon.
Flippin graduated with honors from the University of Chicago, where he received the undergraduate composition prize. He then earned Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees in guitar performance from the Yale School of Music. His primary guitar teachers were Benjamin Verdery, Denis Azabagic, and Dr. Julie Goldberg. Currently, Flippin is Guitar Department Head at the Diller-Quaile School of Music in Manhattan. He plays Glenn Canin and Martin Blackwell guitars.
PROJECTS:
DUO NOIRE, Commissioning Projects:
Both acclaimed soloists who have performed around the world, Duo Noire fuses the classical guitar talents of Thomas Flippin & Christopher Mallett to make new arrangements of uncommon repertoire, and commission some of the leading composers and performers of our time. Their 2018 album "Night Triptych" was released to great acclaim on New Focus Recordings and featured premiere recordings of works by women: GRAMMY-nominee Clarice Assad, MacArthur Fellow Courtney Bryan, E.C.M Artist Golfam Khayam, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Gity Razaz, and Gabriella Smith. It's the culmination of their 2015 "Women of Guitar Commissioning Project" to make guitar repertoire more gender inclusive.
For more information visit: www.duonoire.com
THE MOTOWN PROJECT/BLACK WALL STREET:
The spiritual successor to Alicia Hall Moran's critically acclaimed Motown Project, of which Flippin was an original member, Black Wall Street is the musical exploration of race, class, and their connections from the 1921 race riots in Tulsa Oklahoma's Black Wall St. district to the modern day. Black Wall St. fuses jazz, blues and classical music in remarkable ways and with an array of first-rate musicians: Jason Moran (piano), Brandon Ross (electric gtr), Gene Peters (Historian), and more.
For more information visit: www.aliciahallmoran.com
The Black Clown (American Repertory Theater):
A groundbreaking musical theater production featuring Davone Tines and music by Michael Schacter, The Black Clown is a reflection on the titular poem by Langston Hughes. It was premiered in a 1-month production at Harvard University in 2018 and then was featured at Lincoln Center for the Mostly Mozart Festival in 2019. Flippin was the original guitarist/banjoist in the critically-acclaimed chamber ensemble of eleven.
For more information visit: https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/the-black-clown/
HEARTBEAT OPERA: THE EXTINCTIONIST/BREATHING FREE
Photo: Russ Rowland
The Extinctionist fuses electric guitar distortion and atmospheric effects with avant-garde classical opera singing, fiddle, piano, and percussion. Libretto by Amanda Quaid and score by Daniel Schlosberg and featuring soprano Kelly Griffin. Workshopped in June 2020 at PS21: Chatham NY.
Flippin also appeared as the electric guitarist in Heartbeat Opera’s Breathing Free video concert, where he was the electric guitarist for Anthony Davis’ Malcolm X. The concert has been broadcast at institutions across the USA and is now available on YouTube.
Bridge Arts Ensemble (2015-2020):
One of the top musical outreach programs in the United States until the pandemic ended operations, Flippin worked with the Bridge Arts Ensemble (B.A.E.) from 2015-2020. BAE had a roster of world-class NYC instrumentalists and musical theater performers who made team visits to schools in upstate NY; providing concerts, masterclasses, and lectures to thousands of students each year.