Biography

Douglas Buchanan (b. 1984, Westfield, NY) was raised in Dallas, Texas where he studied piano, violin, bagpipes, and percussion. He began formal composition study with Peter Mowrey and Jack Gallagher at the College of Wooster, where he also trained as an organist. He currently studies with renowned composer Michael Hersch in the DMA program at the Peabody Institute. Previous degrees include Piano Performance (B.M., the College of Wooster), Composition (M.M., the Peabody Institute), and Music Theory Pedagogy (M.M., the Peabody Institute).

Douglas has been commissioned by institutions including the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Baltimore, and has also composed for television and film. Previous composition study includes lessons with Nicholas Maw, Chen Yi, and Libby Larsen, and masterclasses with Christopher Rouse, Christopher Theofanidis, Karel Husa, and Phillip Schroeder. Also a visual artist and poet, Douglas has illustrated and co-authored books with Continuum Publishing and Lantern Books. He serves as adjunct Music Theory Faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, and as Adjunct Composition Faculty at Towson University. Prior to his appointment as Director of Music Ministries (organist/choirmaster) at historic Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church, he served for three years as Director of Music and organist at St. Mark's-on-the-Hill Episcopal Church in Pikesville, Maryland. He has been twice named as Music Director for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland for their annual convention. Douglas is an active performer of both contemporary and common-practice era music, presenting solo recitals of piano and organ works, and also sings with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.

Douglas is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including the Macht Orchestra Composition Competition for his work Malleus, a Career Development Grant from the Peabody Conservatory, and the prestigious Presser Award for his virtuoisc piano cycle Colonnades. His music has been praised for being "wonder-filled...expressive, beautiful," (Tom Benjamin, composer), "luminous" (Richard Giarusso, musicologist), and capable of at once uniting "spectacle and depth" (Rob Deemer, Sequenza21).


A Curriculum Vitae of Douglas? experience may be found here.