{{short description|American composer (born 1988)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Thomas Kotcheff | image = KOTCHEFF2022.jpg | caption = Kotcheff in 2022 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1988|10|14}}{{cn|date=July 2025}} | birth_place = Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.{{cn|date=July 2025}} | occupation = {{hlist|Composer|pianist}} | website = {{URL|thomaskotcheff.com}} }}
'''Thomas Kotcheff''' ({{citation needed span|date=July 2025|text=born October 14, 1988}}) is an American composer and pianist who currently resides in Los Angeles. He is a winner of a 2016 Charles Ives Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=American Academy of Arts and Letters 2016 Music Awards Press Release|url=https://artsandletters.org/pressrelease/2016-music-award-winners/}}</ref> and a 2015 Presser Foundation Music Award.<ref>{{cite web|title=University of Southern California: Composition students shine with prizes and premieres|date=June 2, 2015 |url=https://music.usc.edu/composition-students-shine-with-prizes-and-premieres/}}</ref> He composed and orchestrated music for the soundtrack of the 2023 film ''Oppenheimer'' by Christopher Nolan which won the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards and the Best Original Score at the 96th Academy Awards.
== Biography == Kotcheff was born in Wilmington, North Carolina and raised in Los Angeles, California.{{cn|date=July 2025}} His parents are Laifun Chung and director Ted Kotcheff, and he has an older sister, Alexandra. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 4 and in 2006 he graduated from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. In 2010, Kotcheff completed a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and then attended USC Thornton School of Music from 2010 to 2019 where he received a Masters of Master of Music and a Doctor of Music in Music Composition. He studied composition with Stephen Hartke, Donald Crockett, Frank Ticheli, and Steven Stucky, and piano with Benjamin Pasternack and Stewart L. Gordon.
Kotcheff serves as Ear Training and Music Theory Faculty at the Colburn School.<ref>{{cite web|title=Colburn School, Faculty, Thomas Kotcheff|url=https://www.colburnschool.edu/faculty-listing/thomas-kotcheff/}}</ref> He is a teaching artist at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nancy and Barry Sanders Composer Fellowship Program|url=https://www.laphil.com/learn/learning-programs/nancy-and-barry-sanders-fellowship-program}}</ref> Kotcheff has held residencies at Festival International d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence,<ref>{{cite web|title=ROMANTIC SCRATCHES CHAMBER MUSIC RESIDENCY|url=https://festival-aix.com/en/event/romantic-scratches}}</ref> the Los Angeles Philharmonic's National Composers Intensive,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.artslettersandnumbers.com/session/creative-music-intensive-2018|title=10 PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED FOR THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC'S NATIONAL COMPOSERS INTENSIVE 2016}}</ref> The Hermitage Artist Retreat,<ref>{{cite web|title=Hermitage Artist Retreat, Meet the Artists|url=https://hermitageartistretreat.org/meet-the-artists/}}</ref> The Studios of Key West,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Studios of Key West: AIR in Concert|date=October 31, 2014 |url=https://tskw.org/matched-thomas-kotcheff-air-in-concert/}}</ref> and The Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts: Thomas Kotcheff|url=https://www.khncenterforthearts.org/resident/thomas-kotcheff}}</ref>
As a new music pianist, Kotcheff has dedicated himself to commissioning and premiering new piano works.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Kotcheff, composer – Official Site|url=https://www.thomaskotcheff.com}}</ref> In 2020, his performance of Frederic Rzewski's ''Songs of Insurrection'' was awarded Best Instrumental Recital Performance in Los Angeles by San Francisco Classical Voice's Audience Choice Awards.<ref>{{cite web|title=Audience Choice Awards 2019–2020: Los Angeles Area Winners|url=https://www.sfcv.org/article/audience-choice-awards-2019-2020-los-angeles-area-winners}}</ref> He released the world premiere recording of "Songs of Insurrection" on the Coviello Contemporary label.<ref>{{cite web|title=COV 92021 – Frederic Rzewksi: Songs of Insurrection|url=http://covielloclassics.de/en/Katalog/cov-92021-frederic-rzewski-songs-of-insurrection/}}</ref>
In 2014, Kotcheff founded the new music piano duo HOCKET with Sarah Gibson.<ref>{{cite web|title=HOCKET, official site|url=http://www.hocket.org}}</ref> They were Core Artists with the Los Angeles organization Piano Spheres.<ref>{{cite web|title=HOCKET announced as new Piano Spheres Core Artist|date=March 10, 2020 |url=https://music.usc.edu/hocket-announced-as-new-piano-spheres-core-artist/}}</ref>
==Selected works== {| |valign="top"|
=== Orchestral === *''go and'' (2017) for orchestra
=== Large ensemble === *''gone/gone/gone beyond/gone beyond beyond'' (2016) for 10 musicians
=== Chamber === *''and through and through and through'' (2019) for string octet *''5ERVO'' (2019) for percussion duo *''unbegun'' (2019) for string quartet *''and more and more and more and this'' (2018) for two pianos and two percussion *''then and then and then this'' (2018) for cello and percussion *''wgah'nagl fhtagn'' (2017) piano four-hands & toy piano *''go in in in in & in'' (2017) for five cellos *''not only that one but that one & that too'' (2016) for percussion quartet *''scratch cradle'' (2015) for string quartet *''Part and Parcel'' (2014) for percussion quartet *''death, hocket, and roll'' (2014) for two toy pianos *''bang Z'' (2014) for bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and cello *''gone into night are all the eyes'' (2013) for violin, cello, and piano *''that in shadow or moonlight rises'' (2014) for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, classical guitar, violin, cello, and bass *''hammer/ring'' (2012) for two vibraphones and two marimbas
|valign="top"|
=== Solo === *''Obbligato Snare Drum Music No. 1: The Power of Love'' (2020) for snare drum and playback *''Cadenza (with or without Haydn)'' (2020) for cello *''vacuum packed'' (2020) for violin *''Etude I. Poorless Wheat Dogs'' (2018) for piano
=== Vocal === *''Ceceilia Speaks'' (2014) for soprano and piano |}
==Selected awards and grants== *2014 Aspen Music Festival Hermitage Prize<ref>{{cite web|title=2014 Hermitage Prize Awarded at Aspen Music Festival & School|date=September 25, 2014 |url=https://charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com/articles/2014-hermitage-prize-awarded-at-aspen-music-festival-school/}}</ref> *2015 Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award *2015 BMI Foundation Student Composer Award<ref name="bmi">{{cite web|url=https://bmifoundation.org/news/story/63rd_annual_bmi_student_composer_award_winners_announced|title=63rd Annual BMI Student Composer Award Winners Announced | News | BMI.com|publisher=bmi.com}}</ref> *2016 Charles Ives Prize (Charles Ives Scholarship) American Academy of Arts and Letters<ref name=":0" /> *2018 New York Youth Symphony First Music Commission<ref>{{cite news|title=NEW YORK YOUTH SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES 35th ANNIVERSARY FIRST MUSIC COMMISSIONS|url=https://www.nyys.org/file_download/inline/a6d7ffbf-2fa4-4380-8092-b4054f9a8df5}}</ref> *2021 Illinois State University College of Fine Arts RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Competition<ref>{{cite web|title=RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Competition|url=https://finearts.illinoisstate.edu/red-note/competition/}}</ref>
==Discography== *''Frederic Rzewski: Songs of Insurrection'' (2020) * ''#What2020SoundsLike'' (2022) as HOCKET * ''water hollows stone'' (2022) as HOCKET * ''3 BPM'' (2024) as HOCKET * ''Re/Sounding: An American Songbook for Piano'' (2024) * ''And the River'' (2025) as HOCKET * ''Between Systems'' (2025)
== Film == Kotcheff provided the score to the 2019 independent film ''The Planters''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Planters, official site|url=https://theplantersfilm.com}}</ref> Together with composer Ludwig Göransson, he co-wrote the tracks "Trinity" and "Something More Important" on the soundtrack of the 2023 film ''Oppenheimer'' by Christopher Nolan. Together with composer Kris Bowers, he co-wrote the tracks "William Gracey", "It's Happy Hour Somewhere", and "Ghost Chase" on the soundtrack of the 2023 film ''Haunted Mansion'' by Justin Simien. With Bowers, he also co-wrote the track "Burning Books" in the 2023 film ''Origin'' by Ava DuVernay and the tracks "Activating Interspecies Outreach Protocol" and "Rescue Mission" in the 2024 film ''The Wild Robot'' by Chris Sanders.
==References== {{reflist}} <!--- After listing your sources please cite them using inline citations and place them after the information they cite. Please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:REFB for instructions on how to add citations. --->
==External links== *{{Official website}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotcheff, Thomas}} Category:21st-century American composers Category:American classical composers Category:American male classical pianists Category:American male film score composers Category:Living people Category:1988 births Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni Category:University of Southern California alumni Category:21st-century American musicians Category:Musicians from Los Angeles Category:American people of Bulgarian descent Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American people of Hong Kong descent Category:American film score composers Category:21st-century American male pianists