Concerto for Flute and Flute Orchestra (2012) is written for and dedicated to Trudy Kane. From the first moment I heard her play, I was enamored with her ability to create lines and “tell stories” with her beautiful tone. When asked to write something for her “along the lines of Brant’s Angels and Devils” I was hooked. I have many fond memories of my time with Henry Brant so this was both enticing and intimidating. The three movement work makes extensive use of solo playing within the flute orchestra itself. Some portable and easily played percussion instruments are added for some of the players in the second movement, (a movement highly influenced by the Shakuhachi flute). Four Miniatures for Bassoon and Flute (1986) was written for Kat Sleeper and Jean West while both were on the faculty at Stetson University. Kat and I had worked with Henry Brant the summer before and I was inspired by his radical thoughts about the flute and bassoon. In the 3rd movement, I exploit several beautiful bassoon multiphonics discovered and documented by Kat. Xandre (1982) was written for a wonderful young flautist, Lauren Sylvester, who approached me during my early years of teaching about writing for her. Lauren was tragically lost to us in 2010. Xandre is dedicated to her memory. The three movements explore very limited materials from many different angles – changing in our perceptions with each iteration. Memory and expectations alter our sense of things, as T.S. Eliot suggests, through time past, present and future. About the Composer: "Hauntingly Mysterious", "Richly Lyrical", "Soaring Melodies" - all phrases used to describe the music of Thomas Sleeper. His output includes six operas, eight concerti, three symphonies, four orchestral song cycles, works for chorus with orchestra, three string quartets and numerous other vocal and instrumental chamber works. Sleeper has developed a unique compositional voice whose vocabulary is “clearly from, but not limited to, this century”. "...his music is tonal and melodic [yet] Sleeper avoids high-sucrose neo-Romanticism for a darker, more personal and edgy style, bristling with nervous energy. "Sun-Sentinel (Larry Johnson) "Overall effect of the 20 minute concerto is simply that of a tightly constructed, sophisticatedly crafted score, with echoes not only of sardonic Prokofiev, but also Shostakovich and Mahler...yet the concerto is not much less identifiably Sleeper's than, say, Barber's music is Barber's." Miami Herald (James Roos) Sleeper enjoys an active dual career as composer and conductor. His early musical training with Daryl F. Rauscher of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra influenced the "charged lyricism" and "singing" qualities found in his music today. Sleeper began his professional career as a member of Fermata, a group of composer/performers who presented annual series of interdisciplinary concerts throughout the state of Texas. At age 22, he was appointed Associate Conductor of the Dallas Civic Symphony and the SMU Chamber Orchestra and Opera Theatre where he began studies with Maestro James Rives-Jones. While in graduate school at the Meadows School of the Arts, he founded Perspectives, a contemporary music ensemble, which became part of that division's curriculum. An active guest conductor in the US and abroad, he has appeared with numerous orchestras including the Central Philharmonic of China, San Juan (Argentina) Symphony Orchestra, Ruse State Philharmonic and the China-Wuhan Symphony, which appointed him Artistic Advisor in 1993. A strong advocate of new music, Sleeper has conducted the premieres of numerous works by American composers, including Henry Brant, Carlos Surinach, Roberto Sierra, Robert Xavier Rodriguez and Thomas Ludwig. He has recorded on the Albany, Centaur, Naxos, Cane, Irida and Vienna Modern Master labels, with excellent reviews in Gramophone, Fanfare and The American Record Guide. Sleeper has been commissioned by artists such as Stefan de Leval Jezierski of the Berlin Philharmonic, Trudy Kane from the Metropolitan Opera and Craig Morris from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Sleeper's compositions have been performed throughout the USA, and in Europe, Asia and South America. Recent performances of his work include "Hana's Day Out" with the Baltimore Symphony conducted by Cristian Macelaru, Concerto for Alto Saxophone, Dale Underwood soloist, The U.S. Navy Band, Captain Brian O. Walden, conductor; XENIA for tenor and Orchestra, John Duykers soloist, Frost Symphony Orchestra, Zoe Zeniodi conductor and String Quartet No. 3, the Delray String Quartet. Sleeper's music for the documentary Film "One Water" was recorded by the Russian National Orchestra and has appeared throughout the world both in theaters and on television. Most recently he has composed and conducted music for Ali Habashi's new film "The Silver Mirror" with the Brno Philharmonic. Sleeper currently resides in Miami, Florida, where he is Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music and Music Director of the Florida Youth Orchestra.