Adrian Knight (b. 1987) is a
Swedish composer and multi-instrumentalist. His work, which “paints a curious
American landscape filled with nostalgia and decay, violence and melancholic
solitude” (NewMusicBox), is characterized by its lush harmonic language,
rhythmic plasticity, and startling unpredictability underpinning its ruminative
surface. A musical polymath and tireless experimentalist, his compositions and
recordings defy easy categorization and attest to his pursuit of an entirely
intuitive music rooted in an ongoing examination of symmetry and structure as
spontaneous elements of our brains’ vocabulary. Knight’s scores are published
by Project Schott
New York and Svensk
Musik.
Recent and
forthcoming projects includes the evening length Idea to Life (Success
Stories) commissioned by The Living Earth Show, Twinlings for two
pianos, The Continuing Dream for piano and percussion, and the solo
double album Fly By Night (2019). The sophomore album by San Francisco’s
Mobius Trio, also released in 2019, featured Knight’s composition Bon Voyage
as its title track. His album length piano piece Obsessions,
commissioned and recorded by R. Andrew Lee, was lauded as "a
substantial achievement” (New York Classical Review), "gorgeous,
haunting" (The Brooklyn Rail) and “quietly eccentric…enigmatic but
irrefutable” (Musikworks Magazine).
Previous
commissions by The Living Earth Show, Andy Meyerson, Karl Larson, Maya
Bennardo, the Johnstone Foundation, Bearthoven, TIGUE, Post:ballet, the Yale
School of Drama, Margaret Lancaster, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and others
have resulted in a sizable collection of works for diverse instruments, many of
which have become mainstays of the ensembles’ repertoire.
His music has been
presented worldwide at prominent venues and festivals including Spoleto
Festival, Lincoln Center, Tribeca New Music Festival, Mass MoCA, (le) Poisson
Rouge, Issue Project Room, Avant Music Festival, Norberg Festival, Roulette,
Fylkingen, Audiorama, EMPAC, Toledo Museum of Art, Tokyo University of the Arts
and at numerous universities and colleges across North America.
His recordings
have been released on Cantaloupe, Irritable Hedgehog, Innova, Galtta Media,
Thanatosis, Slashsound and Perfect Wave, and have been featured on New Sounds
WNYC, ClassicalMPR, WFMU, Resonance FM and NTS Radio to name a few.
He has received
numerous awards and grants from the Society of Swedish Composers, STIM Sweden, ASCAP
and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Knight holds degrees from the Yale
School of Music (M.M. 2011) and The Royal College of Music in Stockholm (B.A.
2009).
In addition to his
compositional work, Knight is an accomplished studio musician and and an active
member of several groups, including Blue
Jazz TV, Alice Cohen and the
Channel 14 Weather Team, Private
Elevators and Synthetic Love
Dream. His steady output of solo albums released on Galtta Media has generated a
dedicated following in the underground cassette community.
He is currently finishing up a work for two pianos and two
percussionists, a solo piano work for Timo Andres, and a portrait album of new
and old work to be released later this year. He lives and works in Brooklyn,
NY.
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Education |
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2009-2011 |
MM |
Yale School of Music |
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2006-2009 |
BA |
Royal College of Music Stockholm |
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2000-2006 |
Piano studies |
Stellan Alneberg |
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2000-2001 |
Clarinet studies |
Catarina Lundegårdh |
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1999-2001 |
Organ studies |
Andrew Canning |
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1993-2000 |
Piano studies |
Kristina Eriksson |
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Work |
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2011- |
Music Engraving, Music Editing |
Schott Music Corporation |
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1993- |
Composer, Performer |
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2010-2011 |
Teaching Fellow |
Yale College Department of Music |
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Awards |
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2020 |
FST
(Society of Swedish Composers) |
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2020 |
STIM
Sweden |
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2018 |
FST
(Society of Swedish Composers) |
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2015 |
FST
(Society of Swedish Composers) |
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2013 |
FST
(Society of Swedish Composers) |
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2012 |
Musikens
Hus Vänner Uppsala |
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2012 |
Minnesota
Orchestra Composer Institute |
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2011 |
STIM
Sweden |
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2011 |
ASCAP
Morton Gould Award for ‘Comblé’ |
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2010 |
ASCAP
Morton Gould Award for ‘Manchester’ |
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2010 |
STIM
Sweden |
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2008 |
Royal
Swedish Academy of Music |
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2005 |
Royal
Swedish Academy of Music |
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List of works |
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2020 |
Twinlings PSNY |
2 el pno/ac pno |
18’ |
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2019 |
Idea to Life (Success Stories) |
alto sax, el gtr, perc, Rhodes/synth |
67’ |
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2018 |
The Continuing Dream PSNY |
pno, perc |
55’ |
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2018 |
Five Dreams PSNY |
vln, pno |
8’30” |
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2016-2017 |
Damn the Flood |
el gtr, perc, synth, electr (2.0) |
9’30” |
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2015 |
perc, pno, db |
8’30” |
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2015 |
Occultations |
3 perc |
45’ |
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2015 |
Theban Plays |
electr. (2-16ch) or 16 sax. |
26’ |
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2014 |
The Royal Scotsman R |
sax, el gtr (opt: pno, perc) |
30’ |
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2014 |
Dead In The Water |
b fl, electr (4.0 or 2.0) |
8’30” |
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2013-2014 |
pno |
50’ |
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2013 |
perc (vib, 1 crot, 4 cym, vibrators) |
8’ |
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2012 |
3 gtrs (amplified) |
6’45” |
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2012 |
Long Gone John |
electr (4.0) |
4’33” |
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2011-2012 |
Family Man R |
el gtr, perc |
18’ |
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2011 |
Trio PSNY |
vln vc, pno, live electr (2ch) |
5’30” |
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2011 |
Ted Bundy’s Requiem |
electr. (8ch) |
8’00” |
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2011 |
Mary’s Waltz SMIC |
13 players |
7’30” |
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2010 |
Comblé SMIC |
orchestra |
18’ |
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2010 |
The Caligari Project |
cl, vla, vc, acc/electr, pno, perc |
5’40” |
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2010 |
20 Maj PSNY |
string quartet |
6’40” |
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2010 |
The Tears PSNY |
harp, electr. (2 players) |
8’ |
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2010 |
The Interiors Of Me |
textiles, prints by Seoyoung Shin; live electr. (2ch) by Adrian Knight. |
∞ |
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2009-2010 |
The Dividing Line |
4ch video by Laura Grey 4ch audio by Adrian Knight |
∞ |
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2009 |
Till Minne Av SMIC |
4 vln, 4 vla, 4 vc, 4 db |
20’ |
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2009/2012 |
pno |
7’ |
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2009 |
Världens Undergång R |
electr (4ch) |
25’40” |
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2008-2009 |
Livet Innanför Väggarna |
2 vla, vc, db |
60’ |
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2008 |
Manchester SMIC |
large orchestra |
15’ |
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2008 |
disklavier, live electr. |
11’ |
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2008 |
electr. (4ch) |
12’ |
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2008 |
Ricky Bruch R |
five micro modular synthesizers |
8’30” |
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2008 |
six el gtrs |
30’ |
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2007-2008 |
Vain Attempts PSNY |
pno, electr (2ch) |
12’ |
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2007 |
el gtr, synth, live electr. (2 players) |
11’30” |
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2007 |
pno |
10’ |
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PSNY = published by Project Schott New York
(https://www.eamdllc.com/psny/)
SMIC = published by Swedish Music Information Center
(http://www.mic.stim.se)
R = commercial
recording available
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Discography |
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Solo Releases |
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CD |
Galtta |
2020.08.07. |
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2CD |
Thanatosis Prod. |
2019.12.12. |
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CS |
Galtta |
2018.12.19. |
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CS |
Galtta |
2016.12.25. |
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CD |
Irritable Hedgehog |
2016.03.04. |
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CS/CD |
Galtta |
2014.08.01. |
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CS |
Galtta/Pink Pamphlet |
2014.01.23. |
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CS |
Galtta/Pink Pamphlet |
2013.09.04. |
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CD |
Pink Pamphlet |
2013.04.30. |
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CS |
Pink Pamphlet |
2012.12.13. |
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CD |
Pink Pamphlet |
2011.10.31. |
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CD |
Pink Pamphlet |
2009.05.17. |
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CD |
Pink Pamphlet |
2008.11.25. |
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With Blue Jazz TV |
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CD |
Dick Move Records |
2020.10.01. |
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LP |
Hunka Vinyl |
2018.03.09. |
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LP |
Hunka Vinyl |
2018.03.09. |
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Blue Ragu Volume 1 |
CD* |
Galtta |
2018.02.12. |
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CS |
Galtta |
2015.03.08. |
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Other Collaborations/Sideman |
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LP/CD |
Three:Four Records |
2020.10.16. |
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2LP |
Spring Theory |
2020.04.09. |
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LP |
Rush Hour |
2020.02.21. |
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CS |
Galtta |
2020.01.21. |
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CD |
Mobius Trio |
2019.12.10. |
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CS |
Galtta |
2018.10.16. |
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CS |
Galtta |
2018.07.06. |
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LP |
Galtta |
2017.10.27. |
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CS |
Perfect Wave |
2017.09.10. |
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CS/CD |
Galtta |
2017.06.06. |
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CD |
38 |
2017.05.25. |
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CD |
Cantaloupe |
2017.05.05. |
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CS |
Galtta |
2017.02.14. |
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CD |
Slashsound |
2016.09.30. |
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CS |
Perfect Wave |
2014.12.09. |
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CS/CD |
Galtta |
2014.08.01. |
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CD |
Innova |
2013.11.19. |
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(All titles available
digitally unless marked *) |
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