Role

:

Composer Conductor  

Country

:

United States of America

Birth

:

June 24, 1935 in Colfax, CA

Genre

:

Avant-Garde

 

 

Chamber

 

 

Keyboard

 

Terry Riley is an American composer who is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of minimalist music. He was born on June 24, 1935, in Colfax, California, and grew up in a musical family. His father was a professional pianist, and his mother was a singer and music teacher. Riley began playing the piano at a young age and showed a natural talent for music. Riley studied composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and later at the University of California, Berkeley. He was influenced by the music of John Cage and Indian classical music, which he studied with the renowned sitar player Ravi Shankar. In the early 1960s, Riley began experimenting with tape loops and electronic music, which would become a hallmark of his later work. In 1964, Riley composed his most famous work, "In C." The piece consists of 53 short musical phrases that are repeated and overlapped by a group of musicians. The performers are free to choose the order and duration of the phrases, resulting in a constantly changing and evolving musical landscape. "In C" is considered a landmark work of minimalist music and has been performed by countless ensembles around the world. Riley continued to explore electronic music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, creating works such as "A Rainbow in Curved Air" and "Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band." These pieces feature Riley's signature use of tape loops and repetitive patterns, combined with improvisation and live performance. In the 1980s, Riley began to incorporate more traditional musical forms into his work. He composed a series of string quartets, including "Sun Rings," which features recordings of sounds from space. He also collaborated with the Kronos Quartet on several projects, including "Cadenza on the Night Plain" and "Salome Dances for Peace." Riley's music has been performed by some of the world's leading orchestras and ensembles, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. He has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to music, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts grant. In addition to his work as a composer, Riley is also an accomplished improviser and performer. He has collaborated with musicians from a wide range of genres, including jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp and Indian classical musician Zakir Hussain. Throughout his career, Riley has remained committed to exploring new musical forms and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in music. His innovative approach to composition has had a profound influence on generations of musicians and continues to inspire new generations of artists today.

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