Robert Harry Kyr (born April 20, 1952 in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

) is an American composer, writer, filmmaker, and Philip H. Knight Professor of Music Composition and Theory. Kyr is one of the most prolific composers of his generation, having written 12

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, three chamber symphonies, three violin concerti, numerous large works for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

s and other large-scale choral works, and a wide variety of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

. Luminous and sometimes ecstatic in effect, Kyr's work is basically tonal, and often harmonically and rhythmically complex, its sophistication deriving from its synthesis of both modern and ancient

modes Mode ( meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * MO''D''E (magazine), a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is the setting fo ...

, as well as Western and Asian musical traditions. An engaged activist for world peace and environmentalism, Kyr has initiated a number of projects that bring together musicians from diverse cultures, or combine music with other media, and touch upon current or historical events. The concepts and titles of Robert Kyr's works often point to their spiritual and metaphysical dimensions: ''A Time For Life'', ''In Praise of Music'', ''On The Nature of Love'' (Violin Concerto No.1), ''Unseen Rain'', ''Songs of The Shining Wind'', ''Into the Hour of New Life'', ''White Tigers'', and ''The Passion According to Four Evangelists''. Kyr's music has been performed widely around the world and he has been commissioned by numerous ensembles, including Chanticleer (San Francisco), Cappella Romana (Portland),

Cantus A cantus (Latin for "singing", derived from ''cantare'') is an activity organised by Belgian, Dutch, German, French, and Baltic fraternities. A cantus mainly involves singing traditional songs and drinking beer. It is governed by strict trad ...

(Minneapolis),

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...

Chorus, New England Philharmonic,

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the "Portland Symphony Society" in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. It ...

Yale Symphony Orchestra The Yale Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra at Yale University which performs in Yale's Woolsey Hall and tours internationally and domestically. The present Music Director is William Boughton. History The Yale Symphony Orchestra was fou ...

Cleveland Chamber Symphony The Cleveland Chamber Symphony (CCS) is an American chamber orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio, with a focus on performing contemporary classical music. Since its inception, the CCS has premiered over 200 works. The ensemble is affiliated wit ...

, New West Symphony (Los Angeles), Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum,

Harvard Glee Club The Harvard Glee Club (Glee Club or HGC) is a 60-voice, Tenor-Bass choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1858 in the tradition of English and American glee clubs, it is the oldest collegiate chorus in the United States. The Glee Club ...

Radcliffe Choral Society The Radcliffe Choral Society (RCS) is a 60-voice treble choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1899, it is one of the country's oldest soprano-alto choruses and one of its most prominent collegiate choirs. With the tenor-bass Harvard ...

, Yale Camerata, Oregon Repertory Singers, Cappella Nova (Scotland),

Revalia Revala (also ''Rävälä'', , by Henry of Livonia ''Revele'', by Danish Census Book ''Revælæ'') was an Ancient Estonian county. It was located in northern Estonia, by the Gulf of Finland and corresponded roughly to the present territory of Har ...

(Estonia), Putni (Latvia), Moscow State Chamber Choir (Russia), Ensemble Project Ars Nova, Back Bay Chorale (Boston), Notre Dame Vocale, and

San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) is a youth orchestra organized by the San Francisco Symphony. The SFSYO performs an annual concert series and has made several recordings. The orchestra rehearses in Louise M. Davies Symphony H ...

among others. Three compact discs of Kyr's music are currently available through New Albion Records: ''Violin Concerto Trilogy''; ''Unseen Rain''; and ''The Passion According to Four Evangelists''. In addition, his music has been featured on several compilation discs including, ''Faces of a Woman'', ''Celestial Light: Music by Hildegard von Bingen and Robert Kyr'', ''The Fourth River: The Millennium Revealed'', and ''Strange Attractors: New American Music for Piano''. Kyr has held teaching positions at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, the

Longy School of Music Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts associated with Bard College. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston ...

and since 1990, has been Professor of Composition and Theory at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, which also includes

David Crumb David Crumb (born May 21, 1962Presser) is an American contemporary composer born into a musical family. His father was composer George Crumb, and his sister was singer Ann Crumb.Inside Oregon His music is not as avant-garde or experimental as his ...

on the faculty. Kyr also directs the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, the University of Oregon Composers Forum, the Music Today Festival, and the Vanguard Concert and Workshop Series, as well as the Pacific Rim Gamelan. Kyr received his bachelor's degree from

in 1974, followed by a master's degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1980, and a Ph.D from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1989, where previously, he was a Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows. He also studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England (1974–76). His primary teachers included

Donald Martino Donald James Martino (May 16, 1931 – December 8, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. Biography Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino attended Plainfield High School. He began as a clarinetist, playing jazz for fun and ...

Earl Kim Earl Kim (1920–1998; né Eul Kim) was an American composer, and music pedagogue. He was of Korean descent. Early life, education, and training Kim was born on January 6, 1920, in Dinuba, California, to immigrant Korean parents. He began pia ...

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serialism, serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the technique after his teenage son died in 1964, saying it had proved inadequate to expres ...

and

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

References

External links

Robert Kyr's Official WebsiteArtist information from New Albion Records
* two works by the composer {{DEFAULTSORT:Kyr, Robert 1952 births American male classical composers American classical composers 20th-century American classical composers 21st-century American classical composers Yale University alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Harvard University alumni University of Oregon faculty Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Yale University faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty Longy School of Music of Bard College faculty 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Classical musicians from Oregon