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Music Style
Minimalist |
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Similar Artists
Philip Glass |
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Artist History
California Composer Terry Riley launched what is now known as the Minimalist
movement with his revolutionary classic IN C in 1964. This seminal work
provided a new concept in musical form based on interlocking repetitive
patterns. It's impact was to change the course of 20th Century music and
it's influence has been heard in the works of prominent composers such as
Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams and in the music of Rock Groups
such as The Who, The Soft Machine, Tangerine Dream, Curved Air and many
others. Terry's hypnotic, multi-layered, polymetric, brightly orchestrated
eastern flavored improvisations and compositions set the stage for the
New Age movement that was to appear a decade or so later.
In 1970, Terry became a disciple of the revered North Indian Raga Vocalist,
Pandit Pran Nath and made the first of his numerous trips to India to study
with the Master. He appeared frequently in concert with the legendary
singer as tampura, tabla and vocal accompanist over the next 26 years until
Pran Naths passing in 1996. He has been co-director along with Sufi Murshid,
Shabda Kahn of the Chisti Sabri India music study tours since 1993. This
yearly 2 week study program in India is designed to give students a deeper
insight into Pran Naths profound contributions to the Classical music of
India. Terry now regularly performs Raga as a vocalist along with his
teaching seminars.
While teaching at Mills College in Oakland in the 1970's he met David
Harrington, founder and leader of the Kronos Quartet and they began the
long association that has so far produced 12 string quartets,a quintet
Crows Rosary and a concerto for string quartet, The Sands which was the
Salzburg Festival's first ever new music commission. Cadenza on the
Night Plain was selected by both Time and Newsweek as one of the 10 best
Classical albums of the year. The epic 5 quartet cycle, Salome Dances for
Peace was selected as the #1 Classical album album of the year by USA Today
and was nominated for a Grammy.
Riley's innovative first orchestral piece Jade Palace was commissioned by
Carnegie Hall for the Centennial celebration 1990/91. It was premiered
there by Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony. June Buddha's,
for Chorus and Orchestra, based on Jack Kerouac's Mexico City Blues was
commissioned by the Koussevitsky foundation in 1991. The Rova Saxophone
Quartet, Array Music, Zeitgeist, the Steven Scott Bowed Piano Ensemble, The
California E.A.R. unit, Guitarist's David Tanenbaum, the Assad brothers.
the Abel Steinberg-Winant Trio, Pianist Werner Bartschi and the Amati Quartet
are some of the performers and ensembles who have commissioned and performed
his works.
From 1989 to1993 he formed and lead the ensemble Khayal to perform works
written for them. He regularly performs solo piano concerts of his works
from the past 30 years. He also appears in duo concerts with Indian
Sitarist Krishna Bhatt, Saxophonist George Brooks and Italian Bassist
Stefano Scodanibbio.
In 1992, he formed the small theater company, The Travelling-Avantt-Gaard to
perform the chamber opera The Saint Adolf Ring based on the divinely mad
drawings, poetry, writings and mathematical calculations of Adolf Woelfli,
an early 20th century Swiss Artist who suffered from schizophrenia and
created his entire output over a 35 year span while confined in a mental
institution.
Riley was listed in the London Sunday Times as "one of the 1000 makers of
the 20th Century."
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Albums
http://terryriley.com/discography.htm |
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Location
Camptonville, CA - USA |
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