Evan Ziporyn (b.

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, December 14, 1959) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

of post-minimalist music with a cross-cultural orientation, drawing equally from

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

, various world music traditions, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. Ziporyn has composed for a wide range of ensembles, including

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

wind ensemble A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

s, many types of chamber groups, and solo works, sometimes involving electronics.

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

nese

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

, for which he has composed numerous works, has compositions. He is known for his solo performances on

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

; additionally, Ziporyn plays

gender wayang ''Gamelan gender wayang'' is a style of gamelan music played in Bali, Indonesia. It is required for ''wayang'' (shadow puppet theatre) and most sacred Balinese Hindu rituals. The smallest of gamelan ensembles, it requires only two players and is ...

and other Balinese instruments,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, EWI, and Shona

mbira Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...

. Ziporyn is the

Kenan Sahin Kenan Eyüp Şahin, (commonly known as Kenan Sahin) is a Turkish-born American scientist and entrepreneur. He is the founder, President and the Chief Technology Officer of TIAX LLC in Lexington, Massachusetts. He is also the founder and CEO of C ...

Distinguished Professor of Music at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

as well as director of MIT's Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST). At MIT he directs Gamela
Galak Tika
an ensemble he founded in 1993, a group of 30 MIT students, staff and community members, devoted to the study and performance of new works for Balinese Gamelan. He is currently a member of the Eviyan Trio, with Czech violinist/vocalist Iva Bittovà and American guitarist

Gyan Riley Gyan Riley (born 1977) is an American guitarist and composer. He is a son of minimalist composer Terry Riley. They frequently collaborate, including a tour in Europe in September 2016. Gyan Riley studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He ...

. He has released albums on Cantaloupe,

New Albion New Albion, also known as ''Nova Albion'' (in reference to an archaic name for Britain), was the name of the continental area north of Mexico claimed by Sir Francis Drake for England when he landed on the North American west coast in 1579. Thi ...

, New World, Victo, Airplane Ears, and CRI Emergency Music; his works have also been recorded on Naxos, Koch, Innova, and World Village. As a performer, he has recorded for

Nonesuch __NOTOC__ Nonesuch may refer to: Plants * ''Lychnis chalcedonica'', a wildflower * ''Medicago lupulina'', a wildflower Places and structures *Nonesuch, Kentucky *Nonesuch Island, Bermuda *Nonesuch Mine, Michigan *Nonesuch Palace, mis-spelling of ...

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Classical, and Point Music, among others. He has composed music for a wide range of ensembles worldwide, including

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (''Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

Silk Road Project Silkroad, formerly the Silk Road Project, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization, initiated by the cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and ...

, the

American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...

, the

Boston Modern Orchestra Project The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) is a professional orchestra in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1996 by artistic director Gil Rose, its mission is to explore the connections between contemporary music and contemporary ...

, the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

Brooklyn Rider Brooklyn Rider is an American string quartet, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, whose members include violinists Johnny Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen, violist Nicholas Cords and cellist Michael Nicolas. They are mainly known for ...

Ethel Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name. Etymology and historic usage The word means ''æthel'' "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, b ...

, cellist

Maya Beiser Maya Beiser (born 31 December 1963) is an American musician, cellist, performing artist and Record producer, producer who lives in New York City. Beiser was raised on a kibbutz in Israel by her France, French mother and Argentina, Argentine father ...

, the

Netherlands Wind Ensemble The Netherlands Wind Ensemble ( nl, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, NBE) comprises musicians from all the major Dutch symphony orchestras. The NBE is regularly featured in special concert series at Amsterdam’s main venues: the Concertgebouw, Para ...

, the MIT Wind Ensemble,

Gamelan Sekar Jaya Gamelan Sekar Jaya is a Balinese gamelan ensemble located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been called "the finest Balinese gamelan ensemble outside of Indonesia" by Indonesia's Tempo Magazine. It performs the music and dance of Bali in many ...

Sentieri Selvaggi Sentieri Selvaggi is an Italian musical ensemble, specialising in contemporary music. Its name means "Wild Trails" in English. It was founded in 1997 by Carlo Boccadoro, Filippo Del Corno and Angelo Miotto. The ensemble has worked with composers ...

, Gamelan Salukat, and Gamelan Semara Ratih. Evan Ziporyn was named a 2007 USA Walker Fellow by

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

, an arts advocacy foundation dedicated to the support and promotion of America's top living artists. He was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and now lives in

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was firs ...

with composer

Christine Southworth Christine Southworth (b. Boston, Massachusetts, 2 January 1978) is an American composer of postminimal music and works with combinations of Western ensembles, electronics, and world music ensembles including Balinese gamelan and bagpipes. She pe ...

. He is the brother of Brook Ziporyn and Terra Ziporyn Snider, and has two children, Leonardo Ziporyn and Ava Ziporyn.

Career

Ziporyn studied at Eastman, Yale and UC Berkeley with

Joseph Schwantner Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943, Chicago, Illinois) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize. Schwantner ...

Martin Bresnick Martin Bresnick (born 1946) is a composer of contemporary classical music, film scores and experimental music. Education and early career Bresnick grew up in the Bronx, and is a graduate of New York City's specialized High School of Music and A ...

, and Gerard Grisey. He first traveled to Bali in 1981, studying with Madé Lebah,

Colin McPhee Colin Carhart McPhee (March 15, 1900 – January 7, 1964) was a Canadian-American composer and ethnomusicologist. He is best known for being the first Western composer to make a musicological study of Bali, and developing American gamelan along ...

's 1930s musical informant. He returned on a Fulbright in 1987. While living on the west coast during the 1980s he was a member of

. The three compositions he composed for Sekar Jaya all included western instruments. He performed a clarinet solo at the First Bang on a Can Marathon in New York. His involvement with BOAC continued for 25 years: in 1992 he co-founded the Bang on a Can All-stars (Musical America's 2005 Ensemble of the Year), with whom he toured the globe and premiered over 100 commissioned works, collaborating with Nik Bartsch, Iva Bittova, Don Byron, Ornette Coleman, Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Thurston Moore, Terry Riley and Tan Dun. He co-produced their seminal 1996 recording of

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

Music for Airports Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, as well as their 2012 ''Big Beautiful Dark & Scary'' (2012). He left the group in the fall of that year to form Eviyan with

Iva Bittová Iva Bittová (born 22 July 1958) is a Czech avant-garde violinist, singer, and composer. She began her career as an actor in the mid-1970s, appearing in several Czech feature films, but switched to playing violin and singing in the early 1980s. ...

and Gyan Riley, with whom he now concertizes and records regularly. In the fall of 2013 he founded the Critical Band, a group devoted to the music of the late British composer

Steve Martland Steve Martland (10 October 1954 – 7 May 2013) was an English composer. He helped to curate the Factory Classical label of Factory Records, featuring contemporary British composers. Life and music Martland was born in Liverpool, and studied co ...

. Ziporyn joined the MIT faculty in 1990, founding Gamelan Galak Tika there in 1993, and continued a series of compositions for gamelan and western instruments. These include three evening-length works, 2001's ''ShadowBang'', 2004's ''Oedipus Rex'' at the

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

( Robert Woodruff, director), and 2009's ''A House in Bali'', an opera which joins western singers with Balinese traditional performers, and the All-stars with a full gamelan. It received its world premiere in Bali that summer and its New York premiere at BAM Next Wave in October 2010. In 1992 Ziporyn founded the

Bang on a Can All Stars The Bang on a Can All-Stars is an amplified ensemble that was formed in 1992 by parent organization Bang on a Can. Called "a flexible and expert sextet" by ''The New York Times'',

, with whom he performed and recorded until 2012. He also was a member of

Steve Reich and Musicians Steve Reich and Musicians, sometimes credited as the Steve Reich Ensemble, is a musical ensemble founded and led by the American composer Steve Reich (born 1936). The group has premiered and performed many of Reich's works both nationally and int ...

, with whom he shared a 1998

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Chamber Music Performance. As a clarinetist, Ziporyn recorded the definitive version of

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

's multi-clarinet ''New York Counterpoint'' in 1996, sharing in that ensemble's Grammy Award in 1998. In 2001 his solo clarinet CD, ''This is Not A Clarinet'', made Top Ten lists across the country. His compositions have been commissioned by Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Maya Beiser, So Percussion,

Wu Man Wu Man (; b. Hangzhou, Zhejiang, January 2, 1963) is a Chinese pipa player and composer. Trained in Pudong-style pipa performance at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, she is known for playing in a broad range of musical styles and i ...

, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, with whom he recorded two CDs, ''Frog's Eye'' (2006) and ''Big Grenadilla/Mumbai'' (2012). His honors include awards from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (2011), The Herb Alpert Foundation (2011), USA Artists Walker Fellowship (2007), MIT's Kepes Prize (2006), the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

Goddard Lieberson Fellowship (2004), as well as commissions from Meet the Composer/Commissioning Music USA and the Rockefeller MAP Fund. Recordings of his works have been released on Cantaloupe, Sony Classical, New Albion, New World, Koch, Naxos, Innova, and CRI. He is Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music at MIT. He has also been inaugural director of MIT's new Center for Art Science and Technology and still serves as head of Music and Theater Arts at the Center for Art, Science and Technology (CAST). He is also founder and artistic director of Gamelan Galak Tika, and curator of the MIT Sounding performance series.

Recordings

* Connect4 (2020
CD ''Nut'' Trytone Records TT0559-088
Fie Schouten, Jelte Althuis (bass clarinet), Tatiana Koleva vibraphone, Eva van de Poll violoncello * Eviyan Live :November 2013, Les Disques Victo :Iva Bittova (violin/voice), Gyan Riley (guitar), Evan Ziporyn (clarinet/bass clarinet) :Compositions and improvisations by Bittova, Riley, and Ziporyn * In My Mind and In My Car :October 2013, Airplane Ears Music :Clarinet / Bass Clarinet performed by Evan Ziporyn :Electronics and composition by Christine Southworth and Evan Ziporyn * Big Grenadilla / Mumbai :April 2012, Cantaloupe Records :Big Grenadilla (Evan Ziporyn, bass clarinet) :Mumbai (Sandeep Das, tabla) :Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, conductor * Frog's Eye :October 2006, Cantaloupe Records :Performed by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. :Frog's Eye, The Ornate Zither and the Nomad Flute (Anne Harley, soprano), War Chant , Drill * Typical Music :November 2005, New Albion Records :Pondok (Sarah Cahill, piano) :Typical Music (Arden Trio) :Ngaben (Gamelan Galak Tika w/ New England Conservatory Philharmonia Dante Anzolini, director) * Shadowbang :June 2003, Cantaloupe Records :Bang on a Can All-Stars with Wayan Wija, dalang * This is Not a Clarinet :July 2001, Cantaloupe Records :Partial Truths :Four Impersonations: Honshirabe, Pengrangrang Gede, Thum Nyatiti, Bindu Semara :Three Island Duos by Michael Tenzer :Press Release by David Lang * Evan Ziporyn: Gamelan Galak Tika :May 2000,

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.

Theater

* A House in Bali (2009) 90' – opera based on the memoir of Colin McPhee, for amplified sextet (gtr, perc, pno, vln, vc, cb), Balinese gamelan, two tenors, one soprano, and four Balinese actors/dancers www.houseinbali.org * Oedipus Rex (2004) 90' – Greek choruses and onstage incidental music the American Repertory Theater production of the original Sophocles tragedy. Directed by Robert Woodruff, Loeb Theater, Cambridge, MA * ShadowBang (2001) 90' – full-length theater work for Balinese dalang (shadow puppeteer) and Bang on a Can Allstars. :Commissioned by Rockefeller Multi-Arts Program for I Wayan Wija and Bang on a Can Allstars; premiered October 2001 at MIT Kresge Auditorium, Cambridge, and MassMOCA, North Adams, MA