Tyshawn Sorey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tyshawn Sorey
Sorey in 2023
Background information
Born	(1980-07-08) July 8, 1980 (age 45) Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Experimental music, classical, avant-garde jazz
Occupation(s)	Composer, musician, professor
Instruments	Drums percussion trombone piano
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Pi, Firehouse 12, 482 Music
Associated acts	Vijay Iyer, Roscoe Mitchell, George E. Lewis, Claire Chase, Anthony Braxton, Myra Melford

Tyshawn Sorey (born July 8, 1980) is an amazing American composer, multi-instrumentalist (meaning he plays many instruments), and a professor of modern classical music. He is known for his unique and experimental approach to music.

Sorey has won many awards for his performances, recordings, and compositions. His music ranges from solo drum improvisations to full operas. Both classical and jazz music critics have praised his work. The New Yorker magazine often included him in their "Notable Performances and Recordings" lists. In 2020, a New York Times critic even called him the "composer of the year" because of how much music he created during the time when live performances were difficult.

In 2024, Tyshawn Sorey won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Music for his piece called Adagio (for Wadada Leo Smith). He also received a special award called a MacArthur Fellowship in 2017, which is sometimes called a "genius grant." His life and music have been featured in many well-known publications like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He has also performed with many famous musicians like Vijay Iyer and Anthony Braxton. Since 2020, he has been teaching music at the University of Pennsylvania.

Becoming a Musician

Tyshawn Sorey grew up in Newark, New Jersey. He went to Newark Arts High School, where he started learning about music. As a teenager, he joined a jazz program and even won a scholarship to help him with his studies.

In 2004, Sorey finished his music degree at William Paterson University. He first started studying classical trombone but later switched to jazz drumming.

First Albums and Studies

After playing with other artists for several years, Sorey released his first album as a leader in 2007. It was a two-CD set called That/Not. On this album, he mostly played drums, but he also played piano on some songs.

His second album, Koan, came out in 2009. It was praised by music critics and included in many "best of" lists for jazz music that year.

In 2009, Sorey went back to school to study composition at Wesleyan University with the famous composer Anthony Braxton. He earned his master's degree there in 2011. Then, he continued his studies at Columbia University, where he worked closely with composers George E. Lewis and Fred Lerdahl.

Important Recordings

During his time at Columbia, Sorey released several important albums. One of them was Alloy in 2014. Another album, The Inner Spectrum of Variables, was called "one of the year's most ambitious recordings" by the Chicago Reader. It was even named the best jazz album of the decade by Nextbop. In 2017, his album Verisimilitude was listed as one of the best jazz albums of the year by The New York Times.

In 2017, Sorey earned his highest degree in music composition from Columbia. After that, he became a professor at Wesleyan University. That same year, he received the MacArthur Fellowship for his amazing work in music.

Recent Projects

In 2018, Sorey premiered Cycles of My Being. This song cycle explores what it means to be a Black man in America today. It was later made into a film. He also released the album Pillars that year. In 2019, he became a Composer in Residence for the Seattle Symphony and Opera Philadelphia. He also released a duo album with Marilyn Crispell called The Adornment of Time.

In 2020, Sorey released his sextet's album Unfiltered. Later that year, he started teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. He has also worked on projects with the group Alarm Will Sound, creating both written compositions and spontaneous music. In 2022, his composition Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) premiered at the Rothko Chapel.

How He Makes Music

Tyshawn Sorey's music is very experimental. This means he likes to try new things and combine different ideas. He doesn't like to put music into strict genres like "jazz" or "classical." He believes that music should be free to move between different styles and ideas.

He describes himself as a "musical shapeshifter." He says that his goal is not just to mix genres, but to have the freedom to move between different musical ideas at any moment. This makes his music exciting and unpredictable.

Awards and Honors

• 2008: Van Lier Fellowship
• 2008: Jerome Foundation Residency Grant
• 2012: Other Minds Composer Residency
• 2013: JazzDanmark / Danish Arts Foundation Artist Residency
• 2014: Shifting Foundation Grant
• 2015: Doris Duke Impact Award
• 2015: Jerome Foundation Residency Grant
• 2017: MacArthur Fellowship
• 2018: United States Artists Fellowship
• 2019: Seattle Symphony Composer in Residence
• 2019: Opera Philadelphia Composer in Residence
• 2024: Pulitzer Prize for Music

Discography

As leader/composer

As co-leader/composer

As sideman and/or composer

• With Alarm Will Sound
  • For George Lewis / Autoschediasms (2021)
• With Anthony Braxton
• With Steve Coleman
• With Vijay Iyer
  • Far From Over (2017)
  • Uneasy (2021)
  • Compassion (2024)
• With Steve Lehman
• With Roscoe Mitchell
• With John Zorn