The Percussionists’ Grimoire-Triangle Dance

Ty Alan Emerson is an award-winning composer based in Cleveland whose works span chamber music, dance, and interdisciplinary collaboration. His music has been praised for its emotional power, clarity, and responsiveness to contemporary issues.

In 2024, the Cleveland Chamber Collective premiered Emerson’s hour-long work Oath Breaker, for chamber ensemble and electronics, exploring the events of January 6 and their aftermath. Other recent premieres include Shelter-in-Place and Pan Songs (2023), as well as Caliban Ascendant (2021), a full-length ballet created in partnership with Inlet Dance Theatre and featured in the Ohio Channel documentary Creating, Community.

Emerson’s works have been performed by ensembles such as The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, No Exit, Zeitgeist, ASSEM3LY, VERB Ballets, and Quorum New Music Ensemble, and have appeared at festivals including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), New Music on the Bayou, and NEO Sonic. His music has also been featured on WCLV’s Fresh Innovations.

His honors include the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, the Searle McCullum Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a MacDowell Colony Fellowship, and multiple Ohio Arts Council grants.