THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

About the Composer, John David Earnest

The Theory of Everything’s composer John David Earnest has written extensively for orchestra, chamber ensembles, chorus, solo voice and opera. He writes, “in my conversations with Nancy over the past 2 years, I was immediately drawn to her concept of exploring the connection between spirituality and the physical world. In order to find a musical voice for these themes and Nancy’s libretto, I have chosen several eclectic sources ranging from tonally based melodic ideas to non-traditional musical structure and vocabulary.”

John David Earnest has composed extensively for orchestra, chamber ensembles, chorus, solo voice and opera. His major orchestral works include Second Symphony-The Hastening Light; Southern Exposure; Chasing the Sun (recorded by the Warsaw National Philharmonic); Bountiful Voyager; Sun Songs and Nocturnes (commissioned for Chanticleer and the New Jersey Symphony, Hugh Wolff, conductor); Concerto No.1 for Piano & Orchestra; and Concerto No. 2 for Piano & Strings (premiered in 2004 by the Sinfonia Bucharest, Robert Bode, conductor; Lee D. Thompson, piano; in Bucharest, Romania).

Mr. Earnest's major choral works are A Van Doren Triptych; Only in the Dream; Variations on Three American Folksongs; and In After Time (recently performed by the Riverside Choral Society at Merkin Concert Hall, New York City). His stage works include the popular The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (written with librettist Mervyn Goldstein and premiered by the Virginia Opera in 1997); Howard (finalist in the New York City Opera American Opera Competition); and A Desperate Waltz (commissioned and premiered by Golden Fleece Composers Chamber Theater in New York City). His chamber music includes the Sonata for Piano (premiered by Lee D. Thompson); The Blue Estuaries (for soprano and seven instruments, recorded by Judith Kellock and Ensemble X on Koch International Classics); and Aria and Chorale (for violin and piano; premiered in 2004 by Dona Lee Croft at St. Martin's in the Fields, London).

In addition to his several song cycles and individual songs, Mr. Earnest recently completed a thirty-minute dramatic cycle, Songs of Hadrian (for tenor and piano, on texts by Arch Brown, for premiere in 2006). He is currently working on two new choral commissions (for Whitman College and for the Santa Fe Desert Chorale). Mr. Earnest teaches composition privately in New York City. He is also composer-in-residence and visiting professor at Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington. He has taught at Lehman College, City University of New York; and Rutgers University in New Jersey. His music is published by E.C.Schirmer Music Publishing, Boston.

www.johndavidearnest.com