Douglas J. Cuomo has composed highly acclaimed and original music for concert and theatrical stages, television, and film. Cuomo’s expressive musical language, with its arresting juxtapositions of sound and style, is a natural outgrowth of his eclectic background and training. Born in Tucson, Arizona, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and Amherst, Massachusetts, Cuomo began playing the trumpet in grade school and switched to guitar at the age of 10. While still in high school he studied with jazz greats Max Roach and Archie Shepp at the University of Massachusetts. He became a professional guitarist while still in his teens, alternating years of college – studying jazz, world music, and ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University in Connecticut – with years on the road. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Miami Frost School of Music in 1983, earning a bachelor’s degree in Studio Music & Jazz.
Now a prominent composer, Cuomo has written the score for the Minnesota Opera premiere of “Doubt” – a new commission that should raise national interest. As part of its New Works Initiative, the opera will produce "Doubt" as part of the company’s 50th anniversary season in 2013. John Patrick Shanley, who wrote the Pulitzer and Tony-winning play, has created the libretto. Recent concert music includes Black Diamond Express Train to Hell for the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Arjuna’s Dilemma at the BAM Next Wave Festival, Only Breath at Ravinia, and others. Work for television and film include: themes for Sex and the City (HBO), NOW with Bill Moyers (PBS), and Wide Angle (PBS), and music for Homicide: Life on the Street (NBC).
About the Frost School of Music
The Frost School of Music, one of two schools created in 1926 when the University of Miami was founded, is one of the largest and most relevant schools in the U.S., and one of the most comprehensive in all of higher education. The naming gift from Dr. Phillip and Patricia Frost was one of the historic highlights in the life of the School.
The Frost School has pioneered new curricula including the ground-breaking Frost Experiential Music Curriculum, and was the first in the nation to offer professionally accredited bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music Business and Entertainment Industries, Music Engineering Technology, and a master’s in Arts Presenting. Its premier ensembles include the Frost Symphony Orchestra, Frost Wind Ensemble, Frost Opera Theater, Frost Jazz Vocal Ensemble and Frost Concert Jazz Band. Now the home of the Henry Mancini Institute, the Frost School also offers a songwriting minor through the Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program and was among the first to offer degrees in Music Therapy, and Studio Music and Jazz. Its graduate jazz program is ranked among the top three in the nation. The University of Miami School of Law and the Frost School now offer the first-ever joint degree program in law and music business (J.D./M.M.). The Frost School’s innovative programs, combined with its traditional areas of concentration, offer its students one of the widest choices of career programs of any music school in the nation.
For more information on the Frost School, of Music visit http://www.music.miami.edu
