Billboard

Thollem Mcdonas, pianist/composer/improviser/singer, was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area of Irish and Cherokee descent. He is currently touring perpetually, back and forth between Europe and the States, mostly as a soloist but also in collaboration with many other individuals and groups. Not long after birth he began studying the keyboard repertoire from the medieval to the 20th century with many notable teachers including Aiko Onishi and Lou Harrison. After graduating with degrees in both piano performance and composition from SJSU he participated in the anti-war movement full-time and worked as a guerilla gardener for many years.
Thollem's travels as a performer and teacher have covered much of the North American continent and Europe (he often leads listening and group improvisation workshops as well as master-classes). He is a founding member of several innovative ensembles, and is responsible, in full or in part, for many albums of original music on several different vanguard labels from several different countries. His music is diverse, with each album and every concert exploring a variety of approaches and paths, resulting in dramatically different outcomes.
Thollem is a 2006 recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts Meet The Composer grant. He was commissioned by The Limon Dance Company for a large-scale piece in commemoration of their 50th year anniversary. Last Autumn he spent 15 weeks playing 65 concerts while circumnavigating the U.S. covering over 19,000 miles. This September he has been invited to perform the late works of Claude Debussy on the piano on which they were written, as well as his own comprovisations with Stefano Scodanibbio. This will be the first album (There Seen From Other Places) ever recorded on Debussy's piano.
Thollem has performed in theaters, art galleries, universities, elementary schools, concert halls, jazz clubs, rock clubs, festivals, warehouses, house concerts, streets, forests, riots and on television and radio. He has performed piano concertos with symphonies, played in West African drumming troupes, Javanese gamelan ensembles, an afro-punk band, with hundreds of free improv groups, and as an accompanist and a composer for opera and modern dance. His music appeals to a wide variety of audiences because of these rich and wildly disparate experiences. Currently Thollem primarily plays his own comprovisations which he calls Eccentriclect Music, for people and everyone else.

"Thollem dives headlong into fascinating unforeseen and bold musical adventures that make him one of the most interesting pianists of the current improvised music genre". Eduardo Chagas, Tomajazz

CALENDAR
From now until June working on new albums primarily.
April - May Working on new albums primarily.
June 15th at L'Atelier Tampon-Ramier - Paris, France
June 16th at Crew Hassan - Lisboa, Portugal
June 17th at Trem Azul - Lisboa, Portugal
June 18th at TeatroDoCampoAlegre - Porto, Portugal With: Germaul Barnes (BitahkizAyeli)
June 19th at Braco de Prata - Lisboa, Portugal Also: Duassemicolcheias
June 28th at Centr'arti - San Marino With Massimo Semprini
June 28th and 29th at Centr'arti - San Marino (Improvisation workshop)
July 4th at Summer Stage - Florence, Italia With WaristerrorTerroriswar
July 5th at Tagofest - Massa, Italia With WaristerrorTerroriswar
July 6th festival STRADE BLU piazza Vittorio Veneto - Modigliana, Ravenna, Italia with Dario Neri "concerto in quadrifonia per Pianoforte e Macchine Sonore"
July 10th at Scuola Popolare Di Musica Ivan Illich - Bologna with Nicola Guazzaloca
July 12th at Menza Pri Koritu - Ljubljana, Slovenia
July 18th at CPA - Firenze
July 19th at Franfresca - Lugo
July 20th at Ivan Illich - Bologna
July 31st- August 17th - Northwest tour (California, Oregon, Washington)
August 10th at House Concert - Seattle, Washington
August 17th at House concert - Cotati, California
September 29th at The Labenche Museum With Stefano Scodanibbio in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France (I have been invited to compose, play, and record on Debussy's only piano he had the last 14 years of his life, and I invited Stefano to join me in improvisations based on compositions I am preparing specifically for this concert).
October 8 at Meridian Gallery - San Francisco, California with Bloom Ensemble
October 22nd-25th Improv workshops and concerts at Bohemian National Home - Detroit, MI
October 26th - Dec. 7th 2nd Annual 4KneesOfTheTurtleTour
October 30th at Kerry Town - Ann Arbor with Mark Kirschenmann and Joel Peterson
November 1st at Heaven Gallery - Chicago with Mark Kirschenmann and Jason Stein

CONCERTS THIS LAST YEAR:
6 weeks in Ireland, France and Switzerland.
15 week 65 concert tour around the states this past fall.
Also:
Thessaloniki, Greece - Strasbourg, France - Cherbourg, FR Paris, FR - Lille, FR - Lyon, FR - Claremont-Ferrand, FR - Nantes, FR - Porto, Portugal - Lisboa, Portugal - Dublin, Ireland - Bologna, Italia - Savona, IT Meldola, IT - Schio, IT - Livorno, IT - Pisa, IT Ljubljana, Slovenia - CenterForTheArts(LA) Milan, IT - Forli, IT - Florence, IT - Bohemian National Home, (Detroit) - Pisa, IT - Pistoia, IT - San Marino - CalArts(LA) - Iron Post (Urbana) - Dunway Books (St. Louis) - Mother Fool's (Madison) - A/V Space (Rochester)
Zeitgeist Gallery (MA) - Holocene (Portland) - Wombat Studios (NY) - OldIronsides(Sacramento) - Cafe Metropol (LA) - C.o.M.A. @ ABC no Rio (NY) - BottomOfTheHill(SF) - Berkeley Are Center - AVA Gallery (Astoria) - KAOS radio(Olympia) - Musicians' Union Hall(SF) - KFJC radio(CA) - Gallery 1412(Seattle) - Santa Clara University(CA) - Zebulons Lounge(SF) - The Rickshawstop(SF) - Big Sur Experimental - Music Festival - HenryMillerLibrary(CA) - Olympia festival of - Experimental Musics(WA) - Berkeley Jazz House(CA) - Luggage Store Gallery(SF) - Kuumbwa Jazz Center - (Santa Cruz) - Day Musics' Auditorium - (Portland) - Dunes(Portland)
Cryptonight Series(L.A.) - Voz Alta(S.D.) - EdgetoneSummit(Oakland) - Queretaro(Mexico)

Friends - see all 112

Blog - see all 3

PerpetualTouringPhilosophy May 4

I think it's crucial to the cultural health of our planet for musicians and artists of all varieties to travel as much as possible. I feel it is my responsibility actually.

Module 47292

• Add to Friends
• Add Comment
• Send a Message

Discography - see all 12

• 

  IntuitionScienceAndSex WithArringtonDeDionyso

• 

  SomuchheavenSomuchhell (SoloPiano, ExperimentalWorldBlues)

• 

  BoxDeserter-TwoRevolutions (SeptetLiveImprovisation)

• 

  RacingthesunChasingthesun (TwoSoloConcertsSimultaneously)

• 

  PoorStopKillingPoor