vijay iyer

VIJAY IYER was described the The Village Voice as “the most commanding pianist and composer to emerge in recent years.” He has released ten highly acclaimed albums, including Reimagining (Savoy 2005) with his quartet, Simulated Progress (Pi Recordings 2005) with the trio Fieldwork, Raw Materials (Savoy 2006) in duo with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, and Still Life with Commentator (Savoy 2007), an electroacoustic project with poet-performer Mike Ladd. The Downbeat International Critics Poll named him #1 Rising Star Jazz Artist and #1 Rising Star Composer of 2006. He has performed worldwide with his ensembles at international festivals and concert venues, and has collaborated with artists such as Steve Coleman, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Amiri Baraka, Butch Morris, Ethel, Miya Masaoka, dead prez, Karsh Kale, George Lewis, DJ Spooky, Dennis Russell Davies, and the American Composers Orchestra. Vijay received the 2003 CalArts Alpert Award in the Arts, the 2006 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and project grants from the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, the New York State Council on the Arts, Chamber Music America, Creative Capital, American Composers Forum, Meet the Composer, Arts International, and The Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. He has been a faculty member at New York University, New School University, and the School for Improvisational Music. His writings have been published in Music Perception, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Current Musicology, Uptown Conversation: The New Jazz Studies, and Sound Unbound. He lives in New York City.