Tyshawn Sorey Composer

Biography

Born in Newark, Tyshawn Sorey is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and conductor. He performs worldwide with his own ensembles and alongside musicians such as John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, King Britt, Claire Chase, Roscoe Mitchell, and Steve Lehman.

In 2024, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Adagio (for Wadada Leo Smith), having previously been a finalist in 2023 for Monochromatic Light (Afterlife). He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2017 and a United States Artists Fellow in 2018.

He has also received a Pew Fellowship, a Fromm Fellowship, the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Koussevitzky Prize. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by ensembles and artists including the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Talea Ensemble, Julia Bullock, the PRISM Quartet, the JACK Quartet, the TAK Ensemble, Brooklyn Rider, A Far Cry, Seth Parker Woods, Matt Haimovitz, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Davóne Tines, Alarm Will Sound, Awadagin Pratt, Roomful of Teeth, Sarah Rothenberg, Johnny Gandelsman, and Lawrence Brownlee.

His music has been presented at venues including the Library of Congress, Walt Disney Concert Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Hollywood Bowl, Park Avenue Armory, the Donaueschingen Festival, the Lucerne Festival, and Lincoln Center.

His works are published by Edition Peters. Since 2020, he has been a member of the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, where he serves as Associate Professor of Music Composition. He was Artist in Residence at the Peabody Institute in 2023 and regularly gives masterclasses and lectures at institutions including Wesleyan University, Columbia University, Harvard University, the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, the New England Conservatory, the University of Michigan, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Berklee College of Music, Mills College, the University of Chicago, and the Danish Rhythmic Conservatory.

In spring 2023, he premiered Be Holding with the ensemble Yarn/Wire, a multimedia adaptation of a poem by Ross Gay. His trio with Aaron Diehl and Harish Raghavan has also performed Cogitations with Sandbox Percussion, a commission created to mark the centenary of Max Roach.

Paris Opera debut.

Currently in

Immerse in the Paris Opera universe

Corporate Partnerships