Vijay Iyer

Grammy-nominated composer-pianist Vijay Iyer was described by Pitchfork as “one of the most interesting and vital young pianists in jazz today,” by the Los Angeles Weekly as “a boundless and deeply important young star,” and by Minnesota Public Radio as “an American treasure.” He was recently named DownBeat Magazine’s 2014 Pianist of the Year, a 2013 MacArthur Fellow, and a 2012 Doris Duke Performing Artist.

The New York Times observes, “There’s probably no frame wide enough to encompass the creative output of the pianist Vijay Iyer.” Iyer has released twenty recordings, most recently for the ECM label. These latest include Mutations, featuring his compositions for piano, string quartet and electronics; Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi, a silent film by Prashant Bhargava, with Iyer’s score performed by International Contemporary Ensemble; and the forthcoming Break Stuff, featuring the Vijay Iyer Trio, hailed by PopMatters as “the best band in jazz.”

In 1998, Iyer received an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in the cognitive science of music from the University of California, Berkeley. His dissertation, subsequent research and creative work are focused on embodied music cognition. He has published articles in Journal of Consciousness Studies, Wire, Music Perception, JazzTimes, Journal of the Society for American Music, Critical Studies in Improvisation, Harvard Design Magazine, the anthologies Arcana IV, Sound Unbound, Uptown Conversation, The Best Writing on Mathematics: 2010, and the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Critical Improvisation Studies. He is the Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts in the Department of Music at Harvard University.

Vijay Iyer Trio’s new album Break Stuff (out February 10th, 2015) is available for pre-order.

Photo credit Jimmy Katz