Photo © Jack Mitchell

Thomas Buckner ("An extraordinary baritone, a leading vocalist in any 20th century idiom" -- The Village Voice) has won a special niche as a leading performer and producer of avant-garde music. A baritone with a wide range of experience in a variety of genres, he is best known for his work with contemporary composers and improvisors.

In association with composer Robert Ashley, he has performed as a lead singer in the opera Atalanta (Acts of God), which toured throughout Europe and the United States, and was recorded by Lovely Music, Ltd. He currently tours with eL/Aficionado (which was written for him by Ashley) and Improvement (Don Leaves Linda), Foreign Experiences and Now Eleanor's Idea.

These four operas were premiered at the Avignon Festival and presented at the StrasbourgMusic Festival in France and The Next Wave Festival in New York. Mr. Buckner has also worked regularly with composer Roscoe Mitchell, recently in his Roscoe Mitchell New Chamber Ensemble, which released the criticallyacclaimed CD, Pilgrimage on the Lovely Music label. On the Knitting Factory Works label, he appears as guest vocalist on First Meeting with Roscoe Mitchell and Borah Bergman.

He appeared singing his own compositions at the Asian Contemporary Music Festival in South Korea, at the Other Minds I Festival in San Francisco and at Willow Place in Brooklyn. His two recent solo CD's, Full Spectrum Voice, and the new Sign of the Times, both feature commissioned works and are available on the Lovely Music label.

In Berkeley, California, where he resided from 1967-1983, Buckner founded 1750 Arch Concerts, which presented over 100 events a year for eight years, and 1750 Arch Records, which released over 50 record albums. He was vocal soloist and co-director of the 23-piece Arch Ensemble, which performed and recorded the work of 20th century composers. Since 1989, he has curated the World Music Institute's "Interpretations" series in New York.

Buckner has also worked with a veritable who's who of established and emerging
composers, including Alvin Lucier, Jin Hi Kim, Annea Lockwood, Brian Smith,
Thurman Barker and Henry Threadgill, and had the lead role in David First's new opera Manhattan Book of the Dead which premiered at LaMama in the Spring of 1995.

Recent performances include Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and the world premiere of Francisco Feliciano's opera Ashen Wings in Manila. He is a member of the improvising quartet Act of Finding, which has released a CD on O.O. Discs by the same name.