Kevin Waters

b. 1933

Kevin J. Waters has composed two operas, four works for orchestra, a number of pieces for small ensemble, as well as several choral settings in large form. The Seattle Symphony, Kronos Quartet, Emerald City Brass Quintet, and Colorado State University Orchestra have performed some of these works and others have been premiered in San Francisco, Guadalajara and Rome. His opera Dear Ignatius, Dear Isabel, commissioned by Loyola College of Maryland and produced in Baltimore for the school's one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary, was later produced in Seattle and New Orleans. KSPS-TV, Spokane, telecast the opera in 1989 during its fourth production.

Another opera, Edith Stein, is currently under consideration for performances in Poland by Krakow Opera. Psalm 150, for Symphonic Band and Choir, was commissioned in 1990 by The University of Scranton under the sponsorship of Northeastern Bank, Scranton, Pennsylvania. In dulci jubilo, a set of variations for concert band, received its premiere by Gonzaga University's Wind Ensemble and has been published by Pocono Mountain Music Publishing. Pocono also publishes Under a Soft Rain, a fantasy for Brass Quintet. During the late nineties Clare Symphony; Cataldo Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano; and The Lord is Near: Improvisations for Organ on Advent Plainchants all received premieres. His organ concerto, Waumandee Township, was premiered by Joseph Adam, soloist, and Robert Spittal conducting members of the Spokane Symphony during the Regional Convention of the American Guild of Organists in July, 1999. Since then, World Library Publications, GIA, and Cantica Nova have published several of his liturgical compositions.

In 2003, Nevsky Quartet of St. Petersburg, Russia, made a CD recording of his String Quartet (1969): The Florentine. Several years earlier, the Kronos Quartet presented the work's premiere in Seattle.

His music publishers include: McLaughlin & Reilly; Gregorian Institute of America; North American Liturgy Resources; Pocono Mountain Music Publishing; Walton; MorningStar; World Library Publishers; Cantica NOVA Publications.

He served as a panelist for the Music Division of the National Endowment for the Arts, Director of the Jesuit Institute for the Arts, and chaired Seattle University's Department of Fine Arts for many years. He also served for some time as West Coast music critic for the New York journal, America.

Kevin Waters has been a member of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) since August, 1951. He began his teaching career at Yakima's Marquette High School in 1958.