Thom Willems
The composer Thom Willems primarily writes music for ballet. Willems used recorded sounds, which he rhythmically manipulated, for his electronic music and music collages. Nowadays, the composer works with modern computer technology. Back then, as now, Thom Willems is closely involved in the entire creative process, starting from the generation of ideas and extending well beyond the premiere. Since 1985, he has collaborated with choreographer William Forsythe, initially within the Ballett Frankfurt until 2004, and later until 2015 as part of the Forsythe Company. Together, they have created more than 65 works. William Forsythe incorporated Willems' music into the creation of many stage works, some of the most renowned of our time, including In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated (1987) and The Loss of Small Detail (1991). Other key works include Impressing the Czar (1988), Limb’s Theorem (1990), A L I E / N A(C) TION (1992), Eidos:Telos (1995), One Flat Thing, reproduced (2000), Sider (2011), and Study #3 (2013).
Thom Willems' music, associated with works by William Forsythe, is practically present in the repertoire of almost all major ballet companies worldwide, including the Mariinsky Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, the Corpo di ballo del Teatro alla Scala Milano, the Royal Ballet (London), the Vienna State Ballet, the Staatsballett Berlin, the Semperoper Ballet Dresden, and the Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon. In total, it is featured in 68 companies across 26 countries.
William Forsythe's short film "Solo" with Willems' music was presented in 1997 at the Whitney Biennial. His music has also been used by fashion designers such as Issey Miyake and Versace and was performed in 2000 for the opening of the Tate Modern in London. In 2007, Thom Willems was involved in Tadao Ando's research center for Design 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo, and in 2008, he participated in Matthew Ritchie's installation The Morning Line for the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary.