New York, NY
Born 1958, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Writing music for me is a constant evolution. I go through an intense search process at the beginning of each piece to figure out just what the piece is about. I work up a kind of maniacal focus. My music has been described as "breathless" or "relentless." I always try to tap into an urgency and intensity of expression.
Upcoming works include an evening length piece in collaboration with theater artist Anna Deavere Smith and the Bang on a Can All-Stars, a new work for Kronos Quartet and the Radio France Orchestra, a piece for four drumsets written for Talujon, and theater collaborations with Ridge Theater and playwright Mac Wellman, as well as a collaboration with playwright Susan Mosakowski.
1989-1991 Doctoral work in Composition, Princeton University
1986 M.A. in Composition, Yale School of Music
1980 B.A. in Theater/Music, Residential College, University of Michigan
1987-- Bang on a Can Festival. Founding Bang on a Can with composers Michael Gordon and David Lang, was a way of making a home for a new kind of music that had no home, and a way of taking charge of how this new music could and should reach the public. The heart and soul of it was to give voice to a generation of composers that didn't fit neatly into existing places, whose music crossed esthetic and cultural boundaries. It began as a kind of happening and has blossomed over these 14 years into a thriving international vehicle for adventurous music.
2000 Keeper, for 6 male voices and taped interviews, commissioned by Next Wave Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York; premiered by Lionheart at BAM Opera House.
1999 Girlfriend, for mixed ensemble and tape, Meet the Composer Consortium Commission; premiered by California EAR Unit , Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
1997 Believing, for Bang on a Can All-Stars, commissioned by NPS Dutch Radio and premiered at Lincoln Center, New York.
1996 Dig Deep, commissioned by Kronos Quartet; New York premiere at Next Wave Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music.
1995 Steam, for flute, rock organ, cello, and Harry Partch instruments, two Harmonic Canons and a Blo-boy; premiered by Newband, Merkin Concert Hall, New York.
1994 Tell Me Everything, commissioned by La Camarata and premiered at Festival Cervantino, Mexico City.
1994 Lick, for Bang on a Can All-Stars, commissioned by Mary Flagler Cary Trust and premiered at Lincoln Center, New York.
1993 Arsenal of Democracy, commissioned by Orkest de Volharding and premiered in Amsterdam.
2001 Believing, on Bang on a Can/Renegade Heaven , Canteloupe, CD.
1996 Julia Wolfe/Arsenal of Democracy, Universal, CD
1994 Lick, on Bang on a Can/Industry, Sony Classical, CD
2001, 1997, 1993 Meet the Composer Commissions
1999 Academy Award in Music, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
1999 (co-recipient), Obie Award for The Carbon Copy Building, collaboration with composers Michael Gordon and David Lang, comic-strip artist Ben Katchor, and Bob McGrath, Artistic Director, Ridge Theater.
1994 Djerassi Resident Artists Program Fellow
1993 Fulbright Scholar, The Netherlands
