Mr. Foss is the son of a philosophy professor and a painter. He started piano and theory studies with Julius Goldstein-Herford at an early age and began composing at age seven. After studies in composition with Noël Gallon, piano with Lazare Lévy, flute with Louis Moyse, and orchestration with Felix Wolfes in Paris from 1933-37, he studied composition with Rosario Scalero, conducting with Fritz Reiner and piano with Isabelle Vengerova at the Curtis Institute of Music from 1937-39. He studied composition with Paul Hindemith at Yale University in 1939-40 and studied conducting with Sergey Koussevitzky at Tanglewood from 1939-41. He now holds more than 20 honorary doctorates.

Among his many honors are two Guggenheim fellowships (1945, 1960), a Fulbright Scholarship (1950-52), the New York Music Critics' Circle Award (1961, for Time Cycle), and election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1983). A two-week festival of his music was held in Buffalo in 2003.

Though initially active as a pianist, he is now known as a conductor, with a focus on new music. He made his conducting début in 1939 and served as the pianist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1944-50. He conducted the Improvisation Chamber Ensemble from 1957-62, a quartet devoted to unnotated music, which he founded. He served as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic from 1963-70, principal conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic from 1971-90, regular conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra from 1972-75, and music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra from 1981-86, of which he is now conductor laureate.

He taught as Professor of Composition at the University of California at Los Angeles from 1953-62 and later taught at Tanglewood. He has served as composer-in-residence at Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, the Manhattan School of Music, and Yale University, and has held this position at Boston University since 1990. In 1986, he gave the Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

An American citizen since 1942, he is married to the painter Cornelia Foss.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Street address: Mr. Lukas Foss, c/o Carl Fischer, 65 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012, USA

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

STAGE: The Tempest (incidental music, play by William Shakespeare), 1939-40 (one section may be performed separately: Where the bee sucks); The Heart Remembers (ballet), 1944; Within these Walls (ballet), 1944; Gift of the Magi (ballet), 1944 (also suite as Pantomime); Capriccio (ballet), cello, piano, 1946; The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1 act opera, libretto by Jean Karsavina, after Mark Twain), mezzo-soprano, 2 tenors, 2 baritones, 2 basses, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1949; Griffelkin (3 act opera, libretto by Alastair Reid), 13 sopranos, 4 mezzo-sopranos, alto, tenor, 2 baritones, 2 basses, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1953-55 (one section may be performed separately: Parade; a suite was arranged; version of one section, March, for symphonic band); Introductions and Goodbyes (1 act opera, libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti), baritone, mixed chorus, flute, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, harp ad libitum, piano, string orchestra, 1959

ORCHESTRAL, 1940s-60s: Two Pieces, 1941; Concerto No. 1, clarinet, orchestra, 1941 (also version as Concerto No. 1, piano, orchestra, 1943); The Prairie (suite from cantata), 1943; Ode, large orchestra, 1944, revised 1958; Symphony No. 1, 1944; Three American Pieces, flute/violin, small orchestra, 1944; Pantomime (suite from Gift of the Magi), 1945; Recordare, 1948; Elegy, clarinet, orchestra, 1949; Concerto No. 2, piano, orchestra, 1949-51, revised 1953; Parade, 1953-55 (section of Griffelkin; may be performed separately); Symphony No. 2, 'Symphony of Chorales', large orchestra, 1955-58; Cello Concert, cello, small orchestra, 1966; For 24 Winds, small orchestra (15 winds, 9 brass), 1966; Baroque Variations, large orchestra, 1967 (each of its three sections may be performed separately: On a Handel Larghetto; On a Scarlatti Sonata; On a Bach Prelude; last section revised as Phorion); Geod, mixed chorus ad libitum, variable folk ensemble, orchestra, 1969

ORCHESTRAL, 1970s-80s: Orpheus, 1972 (also version as Orpheus and Euridice, 2 violins, small orchestra, tape, 1983); Fanfare, 1973; Concerto, percussion, orchestra, 1974; Salomone Rossi Suite, 1974; Folksong, 1975-76, revised 1978; Quintets, 1979; Night Music for John Lennon (Prelude, Fugue and Chorale), French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, small orchestra, 1980-81; Exeunt, large orchestra, 1982; For 200 Cellos (A Celebration), 1982; Solo Observed, piano, small orchestra, 1982 (version of piano work; also chamber version; revised as Solo Transformed); Renaissance Concerto, flute, small orchestra, 1985-86; Griffelkin (suite from opera), 1986; Concerto No. 2, clarinet, small orchestra, 1988; For Lenny (Variation on NY, NY), piano obbligato, orchestra, 1988; American Landscapes (concerto), guitar, small orchestra, 1989; Elegy for Anne Frank, speaker ad libitum, piano obbligato, small orchestra, 1989 (section of Symphony No. 3, 'Symphony of Sorrows'; may be performed separately); March, symphonic band, 1989 (version of section of Griffelkin)

ORCHESTRAL, 1990s-2000s: American Fanfare, 1990 (also version for amplified harp/electric guitar, double bass, amplified piano, synthesizer/electronic organ, symphonic band, 1990); Symphony No. 3, 'Symphony of Sorrows', large orchestra, 1989-91 (one section may be performed separately: Elegy for Anne Frank); Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, 1993; Phorion, 1994 (revision of section of Baroque Variations); Symphony No. 4, 'Window to the Past', large orchestra, 1995; For Toru, flute, string orchestra, 1996 (also version for flute, string quartet, double bass); Capriccio, cello, small orchestra, 1999; Celebration, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, orchestra, 1999; Solo Transformed, piano, small orchestra, 2000 (revision of Solo Observed); Concerto, symphonic band, 2002; For Aaron, small orchestra (12 players), 2002

CHAMBER MUSIC, 1940s-60s: Four Preludes, flute, clarinet, bassoon, 1940; Duo (Fantasia), cello, piano, 1941; Three Pieces, violin, piano, 1944 (also version as Three Early Pieces); String Quartet No. 1 in G, 1947; Studies in Improvisation, clarinet, French horn, cello, piano, percussion, 1959; Echoi, clarinet, cello, piano, percussion, 1961-63; Elytres, flute, ensemble (harp, 5 violins, 2 pianos, 3 percussion), 1964; Non-Improvisation, clarinet, cello, piano/harpsichord/electronic organ, percussion ad libitum, 1967; Paradigm, any 3 players, electric guitar/sitar, percussion-conductor, 1968, revised 1969

CHAMBER MUSIC, 1970s: MAP (Musicians at Play), any 5 players, tape recorder (with operator), 1970 (also version for any 4 players, tape recorder [with operator], 1970); Ni bruit, ni vitesse, 2 pianos, 2 percussion, 1971; La Grotte des Vents, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 1972; String Quartet No. 2, 'Divertissement pour Mica', 1973; String Quartet No. 3, 1975; Curriculum Vitae, accordion, 1977 (also version with percussion as Curriculum Vitae with Time Bomb); Music for Six, any 6 treble-clef instruments, 1977, revised 1978; Brass Quintet, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, 1978; Round a Common Center, mezzo-soprano ad libitum, speaker ad libitum, 1-2 violins, viola, cello, piano, 1979

CHAMBER MUSIC, 1980s-2000s: Curriculum Vitae with Time Bomb, accordion, percussion, 1980 (version of Curriculum Vitae); Solo Observed, piano, ensemble (harp/cello, organ/accordion, vibraphone/marimba), 1982 (version of orchestral work); Quartet, 4 percussion, 1983; Trio, French horn, violin, piano, 1983; Quartet, 4 saxophones, 1985; Tashi, clarinet, string quartet, piano, 1986; Three Early Pieces, flute, piano, 1986 (version of Three Pieces); Central Park Reel, violin, piano, 1987; Chaconne, guitar, 1987; For Toru, flute, string quartet, double bass, 1996 (version of orchestral work); String Quartet No. 4, 1998; String Quartet No. 5, 2000

CHORAL: We Sing, children's chorus, piano, 1941; The Prairie (cantata, text by Carl Sandburg), soprano, alto, tenor, bass, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1943 (also orchestral suite); Adon Olom: A Prayer, cantor/tenor, mixed chorus, organ, 1948; Behold! I Build a House (text from the Bible), mixed chorus, organ, 1950; A Parable of Death (text by Rainer Maria Rilke), tenor, speaker, mixed chorus, piano, organ, percussion, string orchestra, 1952; Psalms, mixed chorus, variable small orchestra, 1955-56 (also version for mixed chorus, 2 pianos, 1956); The Fragments of Archilochos, countertenor, female speaker, male speaker, mixed chorus ad libitum, guitar, mandolin, 3 percussion, 1965; Three Airs for Frank O'Hara's Angel (text by Frank O'Hara), soprano, male speaker, female chorus, ensemble, 1972; Lamdeni – Teach Me (text from Hebrew sources), mixed chorus, any 6 players, 1973; American Cantata (texts by the composer, Arie Sachs), soprano, tenor, female speaker, male speaker, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1976, revised 1977; Then the Rocks on the Mountain Began to Shout (text by Walt Whitman), mixed chorus, 1978; With Music Strong (text by Walt Whitman), mixed chorus, orchestra, 1979; De Profundis, mixed chorus, 1983; Sanctus, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1994

VOCAL: Where the bee sucks (text by William Shakespeare), medium voice, piano, 1939-40 (section of The Tempest; may be performed separately); Melodrama and Dramatic Song for Michelangelo, voice, orchestra, 1940; Song of Anguish (text from the Bible), baritone/bass, orchestra, 1945; Song of Songs, soprano/mezzo-soprano, orchestra, 1946; Time Cycle (texts by Wystan Hugh Auden, A.E. Housman, Franz Kafka, Friedrich Nietzsche), soprano, orchestra, 1959-60 (also version for soprano, clarinet, cello, piano, percussion, 1960); Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird (text by Wallace Stevens), soprano/mezzo-soprano, flute, piano, percussion, tape, 1978; Measure for Measure (text by William Shakespeare), tenor, small orchestra, 1980

PIANO: Four Two-Part Inventions, 1938; Grotesque Dance, 1938; Fantasy Rondo, 1944; Prelude, 1949; Scherzo Ricercato, 1953; Solo, 1981 (also version with orchestra as Solo Observed)

ORGAN: Four Études, 1967; War and Peace, 1995

(Last updated on March 28, 2003)