Thomas Adès is a prolific British composer with more than 50 published works to date, including three operas, orchestral compositions, a violin concerto, choral works, vocal pieces, chamber music, and keyboard pieces. In sharp contrast to today's dominant minimalism, his music features complexity, including the extensive use of instrumental color, and expresses a variety of emotions including humor and drama.
Adès was born in 1971 in London to a poet father and an art historian mother. He studied piano, percussion and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and then at King's College, Cambridge. He currently divides his time between composing, conducting and performing as a pianist.
Among his most popular works is Tevot, a 22-minute, single-movement symphony for a large orchestra which was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall and premiered in 2007.
His first opera, Powder Her Face (1995), received great critical acclaim and has been performed worldwide. This was followed by The Tempest (2004) and The Exterminating Angel (2016).