Adam Akio Crystal (born in

Oakland California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

, US) is an American composer, violinist, and keyboardist known for his work in

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

and

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included se ...

composition for modern dance and ballet.

Music career

Crystal is a prolific composer of contemporary classical music for modern dance and ballet. His commissioned work has been performed at

The Guggenheim The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

's Works & Process", the

Vail International Dance Festival Damian Woetzel (born May 17, 1967) is an American choreographer. Woetzel was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, where he performed from 1985 until 2008. He also frequently performed with companies like the Kirov Ballet and America ...

, and the

Royal New Zealand Ballet The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company. History New Zealand Ballet was established in 1953 as an independent charitable trust by Royal Danish ...

In 2016 Crystal's orchestral piece "Rush Hour" premiered at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

with choreography by

Larry Keigwin Larry Keigwin an American choreographer and the artistic director of KEIGWIN + COMPANY. Life and career Keigwin was raised in Wading River on Long Island with three brothers, one of them his twin. Though his brothers were “very jocky,” h ...

and performed by Orchestra of St. Luke's and

Paul Taylor Dance Company Paul Taylor Dance Company, is a modern dance company, formed by dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor (1930—2018). The modern dance company is based in New York, New York and was founded in 1954. Taylor originally performed in the companies of ...

. In 2017 Crystal was commissioned to create a work with choreographer

Ethan Stiefel Ethan Stiefel (born February 13, 1973) is an American dancer, choreographer, and director. He was a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) from 1997 until July 2012. He was the artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet from ...

for the

Washington Ballet The Washington Ballet (TWB) is an ensemble of professional ballet dancers based in Washington DC. It was founded in 1976 by Mary Day, and has been under the artistic directorship of Julie Kent since 2016. Septime Webre was artistic director for ...

entitled "Frontier" as part of the

JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

centennial celebration. It premiered in May 2017 at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

. Crystal, originally trained as classical violinist, began playing keyboards for the NYC band

Dopo Yume Dopo Yume is an American rock band from New York City. Founded in 1998 by Jordan Galland (lead vocals, guitar), Dopo Yume's lineup rotated regularly. The band's name is derived from the Italian word for "after" (dopo) and the Japanese translation ...

and later was the keyboardist for

electroclash Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...

band

Fischerspooner Fischerspooner were an electroclash duo and performance troupe formed in 1998 in Chicago after meeting in school. The name is a combination of the founders' last names, Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner. Career Originally a duo formed by classi ...

Music

Ballets

*2011: ''Trio'' – choreographed by

for the Works & Process at the Guggenheim *2011: ''Descent'' – choreographed by Brian Brooks Moving Company *2012: "Final Dress" - choreographed by

for The

*2014: "Canvas" - choreographed by

*2015: "Dakini" - choreographed by

for

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consis ...

mini series

Flesh and Bone Flesh and Bone may refer to: * ''Flesh and Bone'' (film), a 1993 film starring Meg Ryan, Dennis Quaid and James Caan * ''Flesh and Bone'' (miniseries), a 2015 American television series on Starz * "Flesh and Bone" (Battlestar Galactica), an epis ...

*2015: "Rush Hour" - choreographed by

for Paul Taylor's PTAMD *2016: "Green Mountain" - choreographed by

for Green Box Arts Festival *2017: "Frontier" - choreographed by

for

The Washington Ballet The Washington Ballet (TWB) is an ensemble of professional ballet dancers based in Washington DC. It was founded in 1976 by Mary Day, and has been under the artistic directorship of Julie Kent since 2016. Septime Webre was artistic director fo ...

Film and television

*2002: ''Slumming It: Myth and Culture on the Bowery'' *2005: Smile for the Camera *2009: ''What's on Your Plate'' *2010: ''The Park'' *2011: Give Up Tomorrow *2012: ''Beginnings'' *2012: Drivers Wanted *2013: ''Matteo Garrone: The Player'' *2014: ''

Selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as Fac ...

'' *2014: ''Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity'' *2015: ''

This Is Happening ''This Is Happening'' is the third studio album by American rock band LCD Soundsystem. It was released first on May 17, 2010, jointly through DFA and Virgin Records in the United States and Parlophone elsewhere. It was recorded over the course ...

'' *2015: Those People *2015:

(original ballet score) *2016: ''So Good To See You'' *2016: Almost Sunrise *2017: '' The Institute'' *2018: '' The Dawn Wall'' (SXSW: Winner of SXSW Audience Award) *2019: '' Bonding Season 1'' *2020: '' Bonding Season 2''

Discography

Awards

*2014 HMMA Nomination for best Documentary Score: Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs Gravity *2014

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; el, Κλειώ), also spelled Kleio, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre playing. Etymology Clio's name is etymologically derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλεί� ...

Award for

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crystal, Adam 1976 births Living people 21st-century American composers 21st-century American keyboardists Interlochen Center for the Arts alumni Musicians from California