The music of Michael-Thomas Foumai (b.1987, Honolulu HI) has been performed across the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand. His music is "exciting, energetic, full of vivid passages and picturesque moods" (Honolulu Advertiser), "a thunderous exercise in virtuostiy" (Sequenza 21) and has been praised for its technical mastery and grace (LA Times). Michael holds a bachelor in music composition from the University of Hawaii, 2009 (UH) and is pursuing a master in music composition at the University of Michigan (UM).
Michael's music is influenced by Japanese, Chinese and Korean art, literature and music, classical western literature, Greek tragedy, and the physical sciences. His catalogue encompasses works for orchestra, band, chorus, chamber music, Japanese and Chinese instruments, electronics, film, voice and opera. His works have been performed by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble DuoPlus (Germany), Daegu Contemporary Music Orchestra (Korea), Royal Hawaiian Band, South Salem (Oregon) High School Orchestra, Honolulu Stake Orchestra, the Definiens Project (Los Angeles), the Orchestra Unleashed (Hollywood), Ebb and Flow Arts (Maui), Honolulu Symphonic Winds, Hawaii Youth Symphony (HYS), Pacific Music Institute (Honolulu), University Philharmonia Orchestra (UM), UH Symphony, Wind Ensemble and Contemporary Music Ensemble, Rachel Schutz (Soprano), Ignace Jang (Violin), Thomas Yee (Piano), Henry Miyamura (Clarinet), Yin Chiang (Piano), Huei Chiang (Violin), Ingólfur Vilhjálmsson (Clarinet), Tomoko Honda (Piano), Yukihisia Nakagawa (Cello), Pisoot Saay Op Oua (Violin) and the Honolulu Symphony and Honolulu Symphony Chorus with performances at the Osaka College of Music (Japan), Shanghai Conservatory of Music (China), Yogyakarta Contemporary Music Festival (Indonesia), Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF), Thailand International Composition Festival (TICF), MidWest Composers Symposium (Cincinnati), Fresno New Music Festival, El Portal Theatre (Hollywood), EarShot New Music Readings (Buffalo, NY) and the Calarts Theatre (REDCAT) at Disney Hall (Los Angeles).
Recipient of a Presser Foundation Award, Michael's music has been featured in a documentary by filmmaker Edgy Lee. He has collaborated with composer David Rosenboom and author Martine Bellen in a global-multimedia-opera collaboration with the Idyllwild Arts Academy, Transatlantic Arts Consortium (TAC) and the California Institute of the Arts (Cal ARTS). He has received a Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) composition award for his Clarinet Concerto, the Arthur and Mary Platsis Prize for his opera Oedipus, Third prize in the 24th Annual Austin Peay State University Young Composers Competition and was named winner of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) Merle J. Isaac Composition Competition. He has received grants from the American Music Center (AMC), Argosy Foundation and awards and honors from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF), Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA), the mayor and 23rd State Senate Legislator of Honolulu and the Universities of Hawaii and Michigan.
An avid performer of contemporary chamber music, Michael is also violist and founding member of the Honolulu based chamber music group Ensemble Manoa. Michael has studied violin with Ignace Jang and Craig Young. He has worked with Robert Beaser, Steven Stucky and David Felder at the EarShot New Music Readings, with Zhou Long and Joao Pedro Oliveira at the Thailand International Composition Festival and with Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, Jon Magnussen and Neil McKay. He has participated in masterclasses with Tristan Murail, Xu Shuya, Jia Daqun and Robert Morris. His composition teachers have been Bright Sheng, Michael Daugherty, Peter Askim, Byron K. Yasui, Donald Reid Womack, Takeo Kudo and Thomas Osborne.
