Curtis Bryant - Biography

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CURTIS BRYANT - Biography

An Atlanta native, Curtis Bryant (b. 1949) earned his Master of Music Theory from Georgia State University, studying composition with Charles Knox. Bryant’s music has received live performances steadily and has been heard across North America and in Europe, Asia and Australia in concerts, music festivals and on radio and television broadcasts, including National Public Radio’s Performance Today

. Composing for virtually all concert media including chamber, choral, opera, art song and orchestra, his music has been praised for being “immediately attractive and accessible, with an emphasis on beauty of sound, simplicity of means, and expression of feeling” (Atlanta Journal and Constitution). Bryant has also composed music for numerous television series and specials including the award winning Portrait of America series produced by Turner Broadcasting and numerous programs produced on Georgia Public Television. He has garnered seven Southern Regional Emmy Award nominations for original music from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), and numerous ASCAP Awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Classically trained, Curtis Bryant is at home with many styles ranging from symphonic music to jazz, electronic music, folk, rock, swing and gospel. He has received the rare honor of two All-Curtis Bryant concerts at the Piccolo Spoleto USA Festival and on the Mostly Chamber Music concert series. Bryant's opera The Secret Agent, set to a libretto by forensic psychiatrist Allen Reichman, received world premiere performances in 2013 by the Capitol City Opera Company of Atlanta, directed by Michael Nutter. The opera is an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel. Bryant’s three act opera Zabette, based on a libretto by author Mary R. Bullard premiered in 1999 at Atlanta’s landmark Rialto Theater in a full production by Georgia State University School of Music. The “Portrait” aria from Zabette has been performed on two separate occasions in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall by winners of the Center for Contemporary Opera Vocal Competition. Other major concert works and commissions include FunFare (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra); Dinosaurs: A Primeval Symphony, (Savannah Symphony Orchestra); Prelude and Fugue for Orchestra, (Macon Symphony Orchestra); and Cantata for One Earth for chorus and orchestra, commissioned by the United Nations Association, Atlanta Chapter for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the UN. Bryant has composed many chamber works including Sonata for Cello and Piano recorded by Dorothy and Cary Lewis on the album Music by Southern Composers (Gasparo GSCD-274). His Letters from Jack received a premiere by the acclaimed contemporary music ensemble, Thamyris (1994). Bryant’s recent chamber composition, The Laughing Monkeys of Gravity, is a septet for coloratura soprano and chamber ensemble set to a text by award winning poet Stephen Bluestone. It received its world premiere September, 2003 at Mercer University with acclaimed soprano Arietha Lockhart on a program which featured two other collaborative choral works by Bryant and Bluestone–O City! and Holiness Everywhere.

Bryant has composed extensively for choral media, and was awarded the Atlanta Faith Partners Residency (2008) by the American Composers Forum. The residency involves the creation of new liturgical compositions for three Atlanta congregations - Cathedral of Christ the King, First Presbyterian Church and Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. Bryant's Redeemer Evening Prayer, a complete Lenten vespers service was performed five times during the 2009 season. Hymn of Wisdom, for chorus with brass quintet, timpani and organ recently received its premiere performance by First Presbyterian Church. Additional works to follow will be performed along with these in a culminating program in early 2010. Other major choral works by Bryant include Magnificat for chorus and orchestra and The Builders, a cantata for chorus and concert band.

Curtis Bryant has also composed numerous works for young performers including Theme and Variations for string orchestra, published by Neil A. Kjos, which is a featured work on the Georgia Music Educators Association festival list for orchestra. His Island Fantasy received a premiere by the Chattahoochee Chamber Orchestra at the 2000 GMEA Convention in Savannah. Recent choral works for young performers include Requiem for September Eleven for chorus SSA, band and orchestra, commissioned by Ridgeview Middle School (2001) and Jubilate Deo for chorus SSA, band and orchestra, commissioned by Autrey Mill Middle School (2003). The requiem was also performed as part of the September 11, 2002 memorial services sponsored by the City of Atlanta and the United Way with Mayor Shirley Franklin, speaker.

Bryant has also worked extensively in the specialized field of film scoring, distinguishing himself for work on the Turner Broadcasting series, Portrait of America hosted by Hal Holbrook. He has also composed original theme music for the three hour TBS special, Larry King’s Night of Soviet Television and original theme and background music for the four-hour special, Portrait of Japan hosted by Richard Chamberlain. His “beautifully handled” arrangements (St. Petersburg Evening Independent) for the award winning TBS documentary Trumpet of Conscience received numerous broadcasts. Bryant has scored many corporate videos and commercials including spots for Austin Kelley Advertising, KKB, AT&T, WSB-TV, and a national public service announcement for the Arthritis Foundation produced by SRW Media Group, which won the Bronze Award at the Fifth Annual World Fest––Charleston International Film Festival, 1997. Other film work by Bryant includes a promotional videotape for the Georgia Film Commission, Georgia: Everything You’re Shooting For. Bryant has also scored numerous specials for Georgia Public Broadcasting, including Lost Atlanta: The Way We Were, Georgia on My Mind, Sophisticated Ladies: Savannah and Charleston, hosted by Blythe Danner, and Wining and Dining with Yves Durand featuring chef Emeril Lagasse, among others. Bryant has scored a number of independent productions including Exploring Two Frontiers: The Neurolab Space Shuttle, hosted by LaVar Burton and produced by Dante James for WPBA–Atlanta Public Broadcasting, The Role a feature film produced by DMT Pictures and Blue Spatula Productions, and Briars in the Cottonpatch a documentary film produced by Faith Fuller and Michael Booth, which was featured in the Atlanta Film Festival and the Ojai Film Festival and has been broadcast nationally on Public Television.

Curtis Bryant has compositions published by Neil A. Kjos Music Publications (San Diego), Lux Nova Press (Atlanta), and Transcontinental Music Publications (New York). Bryant is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), the American Music Center, the American Composers Forum, the Georgia Production Partnership, the Georgia Game Developers Association (GGDA), and Opera America. Bryant has served as adjudicator for numerous arts panels and organizations including the Georgia Council for the Arts and the Georgia Music Teacher’s Association. His music has also been performed in the Atlanta Arts Festival, the Red Lodge Music Festival, the University of Wisconsin–Platteville Festival and the Harid Conservatory “Music of the South” Program. He has also served as composer-in-residence for the Macon Symphony Orchestra and the Fulton County Schools. Bryant is currently a part-time instructor at Georgia State University School of Music and has served as adjunct faculty for Georgia Perimeter College, Clayton College and State University, Atlanta College of Art, and Tri-Cities High School.

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