Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley was born on June 24,1935 and is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition.
20 Facts About Terry Riley
2.
Terry Riley's best known works are the 1964 composition In C and the 1969 LP A Rainbow in Curved Air, both considered landmarks of minimalism and important influences on experimental music, rock, and contemporary electronic music.
3.
Terry Riley befriended and collaborated with composer La Monte Young, and later became involved with both the San Francisco Tape Music Center and Young's New York collective, the Theatre of Eternal Music.
4.
Terry Riley has collaborated frequently throughout his career, most extensively with chamber ensemble the Kronos Quartet and his son, guitarist Gyan Riley.
5.
Terry Riley later became involved in the experimental San Francisco Tape Music Center, working with Morton Subotnick, Steve Reich, Pauline Oliveros, and Ramon Sender.
6.
Terry Riley made numerous trips to India over the course of their association to study and accompany him on tabla, tambura, and voice.
7.
Terry Riley cites John Cage and "the really great chamber music groups of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, and Gil Evans" as influences on his work.
8.
Terry Riley was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Music at Chapman University in 2007.
9.
Terry Riley began his long-lasting association with the Kronos Quartet when he met their founder David Harrington while at Mills.
10.
Terry Riley wrote his first orchestral piece, Jade Palace, in 1991, and has continued to pursue that avenue, with several commissioned orchestral compositions following.
11.
Terry Riley is currently performing and teaching both as an Indian raga vocalist and as a solo pianist.
12.
Terry Riley continues to perform live, and was part of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in May 2011.
13.
Terry Riley's music is usually based on improvising through a series of modal figures of different lengths.
14.
Terry Riley has continued manipulating tapes to musical effect, in the studio and in live performances throughout his career.
15.
Terry Riley has composed using just intonation as well as microtones.
16.
Terry Riley is credited as inspiring Cale's keyboard part on Lou Reed's composition "All Tomorrow's Parties", which was sung by German actress Nico and included on the album The Velvet Underground and Nico, recorded in 1966.
17.
Terry Riley's famous overdubbed electronic album A Rainbow in Curved Air inspired many later developments in electronic music.
18.
Terry Riley's collaborators have included the Rova Saxophone Quartet, Pauline Oliveros, the ARTE Quartett, and, as mentioned, the Kronos Quartet.
19.
Terry Riley has three children: one daughter, Colleen, and two sons, Gyan, who is a guitarist, and Shahn.
20.
Terry Riley was married to Ann Riley until her death in 2015.