13 Facts About Tyshawn Sorey

1.

Tyshawn Sorey was born on July 8,1980 and is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and professor of contemporary music.

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2.

Tyshawn Sorey was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2017, a United States Artists Fellow in 2018, 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.

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3.

Tyshawn 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.

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4.

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

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5.

Tyshawn Sorey grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and attended Newark Arts High School.

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6.

In 2004, Sorey completed a B Music in jazz studies and performance at William Paterson University, where he began as a classical trombone major before transferring to jazz drumming.

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7.

Tyshawn Sorey completed his M A in the spring of 2011 before beginning a doctoral program at Columbia University in the fall.

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8.

The following year, Tyshawn Sorey returned to the trio format for Verisimilitude, which was listed third in both the 2017 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll and The New York Times Best Jazz Albums of 2017.

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9.

In 2017, Tyshawn Sorey completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in composition at Columbia.

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10.

In 2018, Tyshawn Sorey premiered Cycles of My Being commissioned by Opera Philadelphia, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Carnegie Hall starring Lawrence Brownlee with poetry by Terrance Hayes.

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11.

Additionally, Tyshawn Sorey recorded a holiday-themed autoschediasm based on Coventry Carol and Sussex Carol with Alarm Will Sound.

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12.

Tyshawn Sorey's work is broadly experimental, drawing on a wide variety of influences, practices, and traditions.

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13.

Tyshawn Sorey opposes the categorization of music by distinct genres, and in interviews and his doctoral thesis has critiqued notions of improvisation and composition as mutually exclusive.

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