Guest Talk

- Roger Reynolds -

Why would a composer who is perfectly capable of “doing it” himself let others into his workshop?

The perils and thrills of collaborating to get somewhere new.

WHEN: Tuesday, February 18th, 12:30PM
WHERE: NYU Music Department
24 Waverly Place, Room 220, NY 10003

Abstract

Roger Reynolds presents, with Jaime Oliver: An illustrated (and collaborative) exploration of three works: SEASONS (premiered at the National Gallery of Art), MARKed MUSIC (with the matchless improviser Mark Dresser), and george WASHINGTON (premiered at the Kennedy Center by the NSO under Christophe Eschenbach)

Bio

Reynolds is a Pulitzer-winning American composer known for his capacity to integrate diverse ideas and resources, for the seamless blending of traditional musical sounds and those newly enabled by technology. His work responds to text of poetic (Beckett, Ashbery) or mythological (Aeschylus, Euripides) origins. His profile includes “wizardry in sending music flying through space: whether vocal, instrumental, or computerized”. This signature feature first appeared in the notationally innovative theater piece, The Emperor of Ice Cream (1961-62). At the University of California, San Diego, Reynolds’s leadership helped establish an internationally recognized center for composition and computer music. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for a string orchestra composition, Whispers Out of Time. Reynolds is author of three books and numerous journal articles. His work has been featured at international festivals in Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin American. This work embodies an American artistic idealism reflecting the influence of Varèse and Cage. Reynolds lives with his partner of 50 years, Karen, in Del Mar, California, overlooking the Pacific. Performances by the Philadelphia, BBC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Tokyo Philharmonic, preceded his most recent large scale National Symphony Orchestra work honoring our nation’s first president: george WASHINGTON. It knits together Reynolds’s career-long interest in orchestral music, text, extended musical forms, intermedia, and computer spatialization of sound. Reynolds’ music is published exclusively by C.F. Peters, and the Library of Congress established a Special Collection of his work in 1998.