(b. 1949, Chicago, Illinois).
American composer of mostly chamber, vocal and piano works that have been performed in Europe and North America; he is also active as a pianist and trombonist.
Mr. Abbinanti studied trombone privately with Frank Crisafulli in Chicago from 1964–68, on a scholarship, and studied piano at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He then studied composition and performance art with Richard Teitelbaum and piano with Frederic Rzewski at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he earned his BA and served as an assistant to both. He later studied composition with Ralph Shapey at the University of Chicago and studied composition privately with Ben Johnston in Chicago in 1984–85.
As a soloist, he has premièred many works for euphonium, piano, trombone, and tuba. In addition, he has played euphonium in the Banda Napoletana in Chicago.
He is also active in other positions. He co-founded with his wife, the flutist Ruth Abbinanti, the Modern Music Workshop at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1972. He has organised a memorial concert to Cornelius Cardew and has supervised the production of events for numerous soloists. He served as music advisor to the Italian Cultural Consulate in Chicago in the early 1990s and as assistant conductor to the Citywide Orchestra in Chicago from 1991–95. In addition, he hosted the NEMO Festival in Chicago in 1997, with Pierre Boulez as advisor and performances by Ensemble Modern. He is a member of the board of directors of the Echo Performing Arts Orchestra, a nonprofit organisation in California. He has written several articles, as well as the book Dialogues, creating music (2005, Frog Peak Music).
He taught as a seminar lecturer at the University of Chicago from 1998–2004. He has also lectured throughout the USA, as well as in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.
His primary publisher is Frog Peak Music.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS (dates unavailable for most works)
ORCHESTRAL:
American Labor Studies, Volumes 1–2, large orchestra, 1990–2006 (version of work for piano)
After Iraq, 2006
estratega a contrapecho del hombre (concerto), cello, orchestra
CHAMBER MUSIC:
power clown, French horn, bass trombone, cello, double bass, piano, percussion, 1999
LURE, cello, piano, 2004
gentle beast, double bass, 2004
what remains for us, alto flute, 2 flutes, bass flute, 2007
things cant be dis baad, flute, 2007
The Odour of Soap, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 2007
Aria, alto saxophone, 2009
SULA, tenor saxophone, 2009
Marais Street, baritone saxophone, 2009
Abakan, bass trombone/tuba
au jour d'aujourd'hui, flute
Aurora, tuba
Belfast, string quartet
Braunbären mit Tubas kommen, bass trombone
Das Brot aber ist verschimmelt, tuba
Cane Trash, 2 violins (also versions for violin, viola, cello; string quartet)
Cantos de sirena (Mermaid Song No. 2), bassoon
Cerco de Púas, bassoon
Ceux qui m'aiment, clarinet
Chiapas, string quartet
Cola de lagartija, tuba
dukatele, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, piano
East Timor, string quartet
Easter Egg Hunt, English horn, bassoon, contrabassoon
euskal, violin, viola, cello
Fallender Engel/fallender Kopf, flute
The Flourishing of the Black Roosters, string quartet
Forged, trumpet
framed, bass guitar
Goat, viola
he had a disagreeable euphonium, that he played, euphonium
Heike, violin
hinaus'schleichen – hinaus'schauen, marimba
Ice Carver, violin, viola, double bass, percussion
Kabul, tuba
Kater Moor, alto trombone
Kobiety, koty i dzieci, oboe
lass mich ein wenig zu Atem, flute
Lebanon, string quartet
The Lizard's Tail, E-flat clarinet
Lobet die Kälte die Finsternis und das, 2 trumpets
Lobet die Nacht und die Finsternis die euch umfangen, 2 trumpets
Lost Indian Tribes, 2 double basses
La Luciérnaga, bassoon
Mein Wagon rollet langsam, tuba
Mermaid Song, flute (also version for trombone)
Mermaid Song No. 5, tuba
mon voir et mon savoir, trombone
Near the Chiapas, flute (also version for marimba)
Nous avons du renvoyer le tromboniste, trombone
A Plot against Humanity's Heart, E-flat clarinet
pravda, violin, cello, piano (version of work for piano; also version for 4 saxophones, piano)
Rectangle for Palestine, trombone
the resurrection of Mona the Whore, harp
roadkill, 2 baritone saxophones
scombridæ, tuba
La Serpiente de oro, tuba
Slats, bass trombone
Soweto, string quartet (version of work for piano)
Stigmata, oboe
Sult, Hunger in Hungarian, or after the Fall of Stalinism, tuba
Three Pieces for Keith Rowe, any player
Der traurige Stein, tuba
Trzepaki, marimba
Ungeheure Verbindung, contrabassoon
CHORAL:
cantata immigrant, 14 female voices, small orchestra, 1989
VOCAL:
Four Songs (texts by Margaretta D'Arcy, Alfonsina Storni, Elsa Morante, Simone de Beauvoir), soprano, orchestra, 1986
come una forza di luce (texts by Dante Alighieri, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Giacomo Leopardi), soprano, alto, tenor, bass, large orchestra, 1992
Industrial Romance (text by George Wong), female voice, large orchestra, 1998–2000
femmes de la revolución, alto, bass, 2 bassoons, harp, cimbalom, 2 violas, 2 cellos, 2 double basses, prepared piano, accordion, 2 percussion
Five Pieces for Carol Genetti, female voice
PIANO:
Angola, in this day n'age, 2004
reels, 2004
one leg dancing, 2004
queen mary South Africa, day out, 2004
squatter's camp KTC, 2004
Duktahole Township, Germiston, East Rand, 2004
cause/untitled Rwanda, 2004
studie/Darfur, 2004
LURE Zimbabwe, 2004
starfield/sierra leone, prepared piano, 2004
sudan/untitled, prepared piano, 2004
HOOD Mozambique to S. Machel, prepared piano, 2004
Les Nuits, 2005
Die Freiheit nach Mao, 2006
The Odour of Soap, 2 pianos, 2007
yellow fever, 2008
Deep South, 2005–09
American Labor Studies, Volumes 1–2 (also version for large orchestra)
black market gardening
Cane Trash No. 2
Cowgirl Blues
Donde está mi hermano
The Euskal Triad
The First Appearance of Hallucinogenic Mushrooms into Cuba
Frohe Neue Zeit es Lebe der Kapitalismus
La Guerre du Golfe n'a pas eu lieu
Jenin, 2 pianos
Karl Marx schlaft?
Maquiladoras Sonata
mort subite
Old Codes, New Chaos
paraphrase, 'deng'
pravda (also versions for violin, cello, piano; 4 saxophones, piano)
Rogue State Sonata
Soweto (also version for string quartet)
Tu voto no vale – Salvadoran rebels in Jucuapa April 1, 1984
trümmerfrauen
Vertical Tone Pig
MULTIMEDIA:
Greenham Common, female voice, flute, cello, piano, fixed media, slide projections, 2002
GLUT 2003, female voice, flute, double bass/bass guitar, piano, fixed media, film, 2003