Tyshawn Sorey

Tyshawn Sorey
Sorey in 2023
Sorey in 2023
Background information
Born (1980-07-08) July 8, 1980 (age 44)
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
GenresExperimental music, classical, avant-garde jazz
Occupation(s)Composer, musician, professor
Instrument(s)Percussion, drum set, piano, trombone
Years active2000–present
LabelsPi, Firehouse 12, 482 Music
Websitetyshawnsorey.com

Tyshawn Sorey (born July 8, 1980) is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and professor of contemporary music.[1]

Sorey has received accolades for performances, recordings, and compositions ranging from improvised solo percussion[1] to opera,[2] with work in best-of lists for both classical[3] and jazz music.[4][5] The New Yorker included Sorey in their annual "Notable Performances and Recordings" lists for 2017,[6] 2018,[7] 2019,[8] and 2020; the pandemic-era entry was for premieres "cast in unconventional concerto form".[9] His prolific output during a time of heavy restrictions on live performance led a New York Times critic to call him 2020's "composer of the year".[10]

Sorey received the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Adagio (for Wadada Leo Smith).[11] He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2017,[12] a United States Artists Fellow in 2018,[13] and in 2019 his song cycle for Josephine Baker, Perle Noire: Meditations for Josephine, was performed on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[14] His life and work have been the subject of features in publications including The New York Times,[15] The New Yorker,[16] The Wall Street Journal,[17] NPR Music,[18] and The Brooklyn Rail.[19]

Sorey has recorded or performed with Wadada Leo Smith, Steve Coleman, Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Steve Lehman, Joey Baron, Muhal Richard Abrams, Pete Robbins, Cory Smythe, Kris Davis, Vijay Iyer, Myra Melford, Dave Douglas, Butch Morris, and Sylvie Courvoisier.

In 2020, Sorey joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania as Presidential Assistant Professor of Music.[20]

  1. ^ a b Shatz, Adam (7 January 2021). "The Composer Tyshawn Sorey Enters a New Phase". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  2. ^ Colter Walls, Seth (16 February 2018). "An Opera Star's Song Cycle Conjures a Black Man's Life in America". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  3. ^ "The Best Classical Music of 2016". The New York Times. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  4. ^ Russonello, Giovanni (13 December 2017). "The Best Live Jazz Performances of 2017". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  5. ^ Margasak, Peter (22 December 2016). "The ten best jazz records of 2016". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  6. ^ Ross, Alex (11 December 2017). "Notable Performances and Recordings of 2017". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  7. ^ Ross, Alex (6 December 2018). "Notable Performances and Recordings of 2018". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  8. ^ Ross, Alex (14 December 2019). "Notable Performances of 2019 and of the Decade". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  9. ^ Ross, Alex (12 December 2020). "Notable Performances and Recordings of 2020". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  10. ^ Woolfe, Zachary (1 January 2021). "Tyshawn Sorey: The Busiest Composer of the Bleakest Year". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  11. ^ Chinen, Nate (May 7, 2024). "Tyshawn Sorey wins 2024 Pulitzer Prize in music for 'Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith)'". NPR. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference MacArthur was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Tyshawn Sorey". United States Artists. 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  14. ^ da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna (17 January 2019). "Review: A Haunting Tribute to Josephine Baker Arrives at the Met Museum". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  15. ^ Russonello, Giovanni (2 August 2017). "Is It Jazz? Improvisation? Tyshawn Sorey Is Obliterating the Lines". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Tyshawn Sorey Defeats Preconceptions". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  17. ^ Blumenfeld, Larry (15 October 2011). "A Thinking Man's Drummer". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference NPR 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Grella, George (October 2018). "Do Not Seek For Things Outside Yourself: The Compositional Journey of Tyshawn Sorey". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  20. ^ "Sorey Named Presidential Assistant Professor of Music". The University of Pennsylvania Arts & Sciences. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.