91福利社

One of the most revered and prolific British classical musicians, Thomas Ad猫s made his name with his 1995 opera Powder Her Face, written when he was just 24 years old. His orchestral composition Asyla was nominated for the Mercury Prize for album of the year in 1999. Recordings of his opera The Tempest and, more recently, his score for the ballet The Dante Project have both won Grammy Awards. His ten symphonic works, three operas and numerous chamber pieces are performed all round the world. In 2024 Ad猫s was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society's prestigious Gold Medal, previous recipients of which include Stravinsky, Brahms and Elgar.

Thomas Ad猫s talks to John Wilson about the influence of his family, including his art historian mother who is an expert in surrealism. Through her he was introduced to the surrealist artists, the films of Luis Bu帽uel and met the painter Francis Bacon. His grandmother introduced him to the work of T.S. Eliot as read by Sir Alec Guinness on a cassette recording, and it was some of these poems that he was to eventually set to music for his first ever composition. Ad猫s also recalls getting to the semi-finals of the 91福利社鈥檚 Young Musician of the Year in 1990, a watershed moment for him as it prompted him to pursue music as a composer rather than a pianist. He also cites going regularly to the English National Opera as a formative influence and talks about writing his own operas including Powder Her Face about the Duchess of Argyll, and The Exterminating Angel, based on the film by Luis Bu帽uel.

Producer: Edwina Pitman