Andy Kirshner is an American composer, performer, writer, and media artist. He is an assistant professor at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, jointly appointed by the School of Art and Design and the School of Music. He holds a doctorate in music composition from the

, where he studied with

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

Evan Chambers Evan Chambers (born 1963, in Alexandria, Louisiana) is a composer, traditional Irish fiddler, and Professor of Composition at the University of Michigan. He received a Doctorate in music composition from the University of Michigan. His teachers in ...

, Curtis Curtis-Smith,

Michael Daugherty Michael Kevin Daugherty (born April 28, 1954) is an American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic book-inspired ''Metropolis Sym ...

, and George Wilson. Kirshner's music-theater works include ''The Museum of Life and Death'', a science fiction "interdisciplinary theater work" based on the medieval

morality play The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...

Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

''; ''An Evening with Tony Amore'' for jazz voice and orchestra based on the persona of

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

; ''Who It Is'', a one-man musical about race and nationalism; the opera-oratorio ''The Watchtower'' inspired by apocalyptic TV newscasts and the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

; ''Dr. Nathan Feelgood In Person'', an operetta for 10-piece blues band and a singing psychiatrist; and a cold-war musical for children with

Dan Hurlin Dan Hurlin (born 1955) is an American puppeteer and performance artist. Life and work Performance works include: ''No(thing so powerful as) Truth'' (1995); ''Constance and Ferdinand'' (1991) with Victoria Marks; ''Quintland (The Musical)'' (1992); ...

''The Day the Earth Stood Still''. He lives in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

with his wife, the sculptor and installation artist Stephanie Rowden. Kirshner has also directed multiple films, including his 2016 feature debut, the musical-comedy ''Liberty's Secret''. Though the film was originally intended as a satire of the political climate during the presidency of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, ''Liberty's Secret'' ultimately took eight years to develop, and evolved into what Kirshner has described as "a traditional movie-musical – with a lesbian-political twist."

References

External links

Homepage
American male composers 21st-century American composers University of Michigan faculty Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) American entertainers University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni 21st-century American male musicians {{US-musician-stub