It has been an absolute joy—for performer and audience alike to commission these homages into the world. When Tony shared his Hommages, Book I, I grew enamored with the concept: brief character pieces for piano that connect to figures past and present. My performances always strive to connect music with ideas and people beyond the stage, so I had no choice but to commission Tony in 2016 to write Books II and III. As a guitarist, Tony brings a truly fresh perspective to piano writing that has made an indelible contribution to the repertoire. His creative insight and joyous eclecticism have delighted both seasoned concertgoers and newcomers to piano repertoire.

Below are the works of Anthony J. Lanman that I have premiered, as well as works yet to make their début:

Hommage à Eddie Van Halen (2016)
Hommage à John Dowland (2017)
Hommage à Hayao Miyazaki (2017)
Hommage à Jackson Pollock (2017)
Hommage à Hildegard of Bingen (2018)
Hommage à Neil Gaiman (2020)
Hommage à Nadia Boulanger (TBD)
Hommage à Gary Gygax (TBD)
Hommage à Neil Peart (TBD)

Anthony Joseph Lanman is an active and passionate musician that divides his time between composing, performing, teaching and advocacy for new classical music. As a composer, Anthony creates music that reaches general audiences as well as new music connoisseurs. Embracing influences that range from progressive rock and metal, to medieval and renaissance music, to jazz, to new classical, Anthony strives to create a sound that is his own. He has written for ensembles and soloists around the world.  His main teachers have been P.Q. Phan, Don Freund, Sven-David Sandstrom, Marc Mellits and thousands upon thousands of recordings.

Anthony’s performing career began in high school while singing and playing electric guitar with his touring progressive band Canvas. His principle instrument changed to classical guitar during his undergraduate years at University of Texas at Austin where he studied with Adam Holzman. Through his graduate study at Indiana University he added renaissance lute and theorbo to his instrumental arsenal, studying with Nigel North. He has performed with the University of Texas New Music Ensemble, the University of Texas Early Music Ensemble, the Indiana University New Music Ensemble, the Indiana State University Wind Ensemble, and Clocks in Motion. He has also performed many concerts of solo and chamber music.

Anthony’s advocacy is life-long. In the nineties, he hosted a contemporary classical music radio show on KVRX in Austin, Texas. In the 21st century, he promoted fellow Indiana University composers through a web presence on Mp3.com (now defunct); created Guitar Heroes, a weekly presentation series in Second Life; and produced hundreds of episodes of his ongoing music-centric podcasts All the Cool Parts, 1,000 Recordings Podcast, 1 Track and This One Time, at Band Camp.  In addition, he has exposed thousands of new listeners to contemporary classical composers by sharing this music to his more than 400,000 followers on Soundcloud. Anthony holds a BM in composition from the University of Texas, and an MM and DM in composition from Indiana University and currently resides in Bloomington, IN with his wife Jenna and their cats Silas and Bod.

More about Anthony here.

Piano Recital Spotlights Contemporary Works Inspired by Popular Culture
(October 18, 2017; The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA)

Roadfeldt met composer Anthony Lanman at a recent new music conference. A classical and rock guitarist and modern art aficionado as well as a composer, Lanman was inspired by guitar idol Eddie Van Halen and iconic artist Jackson Pollock to write an homage to each of them. They are two of six homages on various artists and musicians Lanman will be composing for Roadfeldt. Lanman's "Homage a Jackson Pollock" is especially interesting, in that it employs what is called a looper pedal. "It's a technique used in a lot of contemporary and popular music. You record a track as you play, then press a pedal and the track plays back through speakers. I'll record another track, and then those two tracks are playing along with whatever else I'm playing," Roadfeldt says. "So for the Pollock piece, those two recorded tracks provide the canvass, and what I'm playing is the paint."


 Holly Roadfeldt Piano Recital Blends Classics with New Commissions
(January 29, 2019; The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA)

Even a single composer can write in totally different styles, as is the case with Anthony Lanman and his pair of homages, one to Hildegard of Bingen and one to rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen.“He did the ‘Hildegard of Bingen’ piece just last summer. I liked the idea of how this composer could write such an ethereal, gorgeous piece and put it right next to the Van Halen homage, a virtuosic showpiece,” Roadfeldt says. “I just love the balance of that.”


 Pianist Holly Roadfeldt opens Muhlenberg Contemporary Music Festival
(March 10, 2020; The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA)

Roadfeldt met composer Anthony Lanman at a recent new music conference. A classical and rock guitarist and modern art aficionado as well as a composer, Lanman has been inspired to compose homages to such celebrities as iconic artist Jackson Pollock, guitar idol Eddie Van Halen, and visionary composer Hildegard of Bingen. We’ll hear the latter two on the program, including the premiere of Lanman’s homage to the author Neil Gaiman, composed just this year. “It’s wonderful to have Tony teach me something about this author through his music,” Roadfeldt says. “Learning something new is yet another level of understanding that the musical art makes possible.”