In Sound

Target

Afterglow

Return (2012) for string quartet. Performed by Pacifica Quartet at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival.

Return (Pacifica Quartet)

Excerpt from "After Forgetting" (2009) for clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, and cello. Performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble. Commissioned by Meet the Composer

After Forgetting (ICE)

Excerpt from "Becoming Unknown" (2009) for flute/bass flute, clarinet in A/bass clarinet, trumpet, and double bass. Performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble. Commissioned by Harvard University and the Fromm Foundation.

Becoming Unknown (ICE)

Excerpt from "Mercury Songbirds" (2008) for alto flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, and cello. Performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble. Commissioned by the Utah Arts Festival.

Mercury Songbirds (ICE)

Excerpt from "Nothing Is More Important" (2009) for flute, viola, and harp. Live performance by the Boston Chamber Music Society. Commissioned by the Harvard Musical Association.

Nothing Is More Important (BCMS)

Excerpt from "Tender Illusions" (2010) for clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quartet, and double bass. Live performance by the Scharoun Ensemble.

Tender Illusions (Scharoun)

Excerpt from "Dream Lightly" (2008) for electric guitar and orchestra. Live performance by Seth Josel, electric guitar, and the American Composers Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky. Commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra.

Dream Lightly (ACO)

Excerpt from "Washed By Fire" (2007) for string quartet. Performed by the Kronos Quartet. Commissioned by LEVYdance.

Washed By Fire Excerpt 2 (Kronos)

Excerpt from "The Noise Between Thoughts" (2004) for string quartet. Performed by the Kronos Quartet. Commissioned by the Fromm Foundation.

The Noise Between Thoughts (Kronos)

"Leaflet II" from "Target" (2004) for soprano, clarinet, percussion, violin, and cello. Performed by Laurie Rubin and the California E.A.R. Unit. Commissioned by Carnegie Hall through the Weill Music Institute.

Target (EAR Unit)

Excerpt from "2" for violin and percussion (1998). Performed by Either/Or. 

2 (Either/Or)

Excerpt from "If We Knew The Sky"
Live performance by Either/Or, conducted by Richard Carrick

If We Knew The Sky

NW80791 Keeril Makan: Letting Time Circle Through Us

Keeril Makan

Letting Time Circle Through Us

Gather (2006) for Percussion Trio, performed by TimeTable Percussion

Gather (TimeTable)

Excerpt from "Bleed Through" (2001). Performed by the Bang on a Can All-Stars

Bleed Through (Bang on a Can)

Excerpt from "Resonance Alloy" for solo percussion. Performed by David Shively.

Resonance Alloy (Shively)

Excerpt from "Zones d'accord" for solo cello. Performed by Alex Waterman.

Zones d'accord (Waterman)

Excerpt from "Afterglow" for solo piano. Performed by Cory Smythe.

Afterglow (ICE)

Excerpt from "Husk" for flute, oboe, and harp. Performed by ICE.

Husk (ICE)

Excerpt from "Mu" for solo prepared violin. Performed by Erik Carlson

Mu (Carlson)

Excerpt from "Voice Within Voice" for solo baritone saxophone. Performed by Brian Sacawa.

Voice Within Voice (Sacawa)

Excerpts from "In Sound" Tzadik 8053
Performed by the Paul Dresher Ensemble

Threads (Dresher Ensemble)

Herd (Binder)

Performed by the MIT Wind Ensemble, Fredrick Harris, conductor.

Infinite Corridor (MITWE)

Performed by the Sinfonia da Camera, Graeme Jennings, violin, Masumi Rostad, viola, Vlad Conta, conductor

Still (Sinfonia da Camera)

9 MIDI controlled toy pianos, designed by Trimpin

Toy Solace (Trimpen)

Opening from "Washed By Fire" (2007) for string quartet. Performed by the Kronos Quartet. Commissioned by LEVYdance.

Washed By Fire Excerpt 1 (Kronos)

Described by The New Yorker as “an arrestingly gifted young American composer,” and by The New York Times as “consistently stimulating,” The Boston Globe portrays Keeril Makan as a composer “whose music deserves to be more widely heard.” Recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Luciano Berio Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, he has also received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Fromm Foundation, Meet the Composer, the Aaron Copland House, the Utah Arts Festival, the Fulbright Program, and ASCAP. His work has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, American Composers Orchestra, Harvard Musical Association, and Carnegie Hall, among others. His CDs, In Sound (Tzadik), Target (Starkland), and Afterglow (Mode) include performances by the Kronos Quartet, Either/Or, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Persona, his opera, written for Alarm Will Sound and produced by Beth Morrison, is an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s classic film, with a libretto by Jay Scheib. Schott is publishing his compositions.

Makan was raised in New Jersey by parents of South African Indian and Russian Jewish descent. After training as a violinist, he received degrees in composition and religion from Oberlin and completed his PhD in composition at the University of California–Berkeley, with additional studies in Helsinki and Paris. Makan makes his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is Associate Professor of Music at MIT. For more information, visit www.keerilmakan.com

Keeril Makan

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