Newark-born multi-instrumentalist and composer Tyshawn Sorey (b. 1980) is celebrated for his incomparable virtuosity, effortless mastery and memorization of highly complex scores, and extraordinary ability to blend composition and improvisation in his work. He has performed nationally and internationally with his own ensembles, as well as with such artists as John Zorn, Vijay Iyer, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, Wadada Leo Smith, Marilyn Crispell, Steve Lehman, Evan Parker, and Myra Melford, among many others.
The New York Times has praised Sorey for his instrumental facility and aplomb, “he plays not only with gale-force physicality, but also a sense of scale and equipoise”; The Wall Street Journal has critically acclaimed Sorey as being, “a composer of radical and seemingly boundless ideas.” The Jerome Foundation, the Shifting Foundation, Van Lier Fellowship, Spektral Quartet, and International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) have commissioned and have supported his genre-crossing work. He also collaborates regularly with ICE as a percussionist and resident composer. As a leader, Sorey has released five critically acclaimed recordings that feature his work as a composer and performer including his newest release, The Inner Spectrum of Variables (Pi Recordings). In 2012, he was selected as one of nine composers for the Other Minds residency (2012), where he exchanged ideas with such like-minded peers as Ikue Mori, Ken Ueno, and Harold Budd. In 2013, Jazz Danmark invited him to serve as the Danish International Visiting Artist. He is also a 2015 recipient of the Doris Duke Impact Award. Sorey has taught and lectured on composition and improvisation at Columbia University, The New School, The Banff Centre, Wesleyan University, International Realtime Music Symposium, Hochschule für Musik Köln, Berklee College of Music, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Danish Rhythmic Conservatory. His work has been premiered at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Walt Disney Hall, Roulette, Issue Project Room, and the Stone, among many others.