To hear music: http://thorntonstaples.com/
Biography: Thornton (Thorny) Staples was born in Hampton, VA, in May 1953. He entered UVa in 1971-72. He took a gap year in 1972-73; liked it so much he took 4 more, finally graduating from UVa with a BS in Systems Engineering. During his dropout years, Thorny taught himself to play the flute & saxophone, studied music theory on his own, and became an active player in local bands. He also discovered an interest in sculpture and began actively to sculpt in stone. Eventually Thorny opted to focus his efforts on sculpture and closed—he thought—his musical career. For many years Thorny lead a two-career life: he sculpted and, as an information architect, contributed to nascent efforts to use digital technologies to support and sustain humanities and science research at the University of Virginia and at the Smithsonian Institution.
In 2010, Thorny decided to abandon sculpting and return to music, using a computer both to compose and to hear his music. He studied Classical-era harmony and composition with Matthew Viator in Washington, DC. He studied counterpoint and Romantic and 20th Century harmony and withJamie Henke at the University of Wisconsin distance learning program. Upon retiring in 2016 from his other career as an information architect, Thorny brought his compositional efforts to the forefront. Since 2023 he has been studying orchestration and advanced composition with Jeffrey Dokken, in Washington, DC.
On May 22, 2025, his Symphony #1, in F Major, was performed by the American Contemporary Classical Orchestra in Washington, DC.