TERRY RILEY

Born in Colfax, California, in 1935, Terry Riley began his musical studies at the age of 19 in San Francisco, studying both piano and composition.
He finished his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a MA degree in Composition.

During his years of study, Riley worked as a soloist playing ragtime piano, and also formed an improvisation group in conjunction with Loren Rush and Pauline Oliveros.
It was during this time that he met La Monte Young, with whom he worked composing dance music for choreographer Ann Holprin.

After finishing his studies, Terry Riley toured Europe where he became involved in theater, jazz concerts and "happenings".
He performed solo "All-Night Concerts" in Europe, playing keyboard instruments and soprano saxophone, later adding electronics and tape.
It was at this time when he began to compose music using repetitive patterns, which helped give rise to the development of the American minimal music in the seventies and eighties.

Perhaps Terry Riley is best known for his work In C, which is based on fixed musical figures, but, like many of his compositions, contains elements of controlled improvisation.
Terry Riley's compositional output spans the worlds of electronic instruments, and vocal and instrumental music, and include a quintet titled The Crows Rosary and nine string quartets.

Of these, Cadenza on the Night Plain was considered by Time and Newsweek to be one of the ten best records of the year and Salome Dances for Peace was elected the best album of 1989 by USA Today.

For the Salzburg festival of 1991 he was commissioned to write a concerto for quartet and orchestra, played by the Kronos Quartet.

www.terryriley.com