Society
for American Music
2006 Honorary Member
Muhal Richard Abrams
and the AACM
World renowned pianist and composer has been in
the forefront of the contemporary music scene for well over forty years. Muhal
is a co-founder of The Association for the Advancement of
Creative Musicians (AACM), founder of The AACM School of Music and President
of The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, New York City
Chapter. Muhal was the first recipient of the grand international jazz award,
"The JazzPar Prize", which was awarded to him in 1990 by the Danish
Jazz Center in Copenhagen, Denmark.. In 1999 Muhal was presented a proclamation
by Richard M. Daley, Mayor of the City of Chicago, declaring April 11, 1999
as Muhal Richard Abrams Day in Chicago.
Except for a brief period of study at Chicago Musical College and Governors
State University in Chicago, Illinois where he studied electronic music, Mr.
Abrams is predominately a self-taught musician who, as a result of many years
of observation, analysis, and practice as a performing musician, has developed
a highly respected command of a variety of musical styles both as a pianist
and composer. The versatile Mr. Abrams and members of The AACM are responsible
for some of the most original new music approaches of the last four decades.
Some recent compositions of Mr. Abrams are: Transversion
I OP. 6 for Symphony Orchestra, "NOVI" For Symphony Orchestra and
Jazz Quartet, Variations for Solo Saxophone, Flute, and Chamber Orchestra,
commissioned by the City of Chicago for the 1982 New Music America Festival;
Quintet for Voice (Soprano), Piano, Harp, Cello, and Violin, commissioned
by The Kitchen and performed at Symphony Space in April, 1982; Improvisation
Structures I-II-III-IV-V-VI performed in a series of six solo piano concerts
for the 1983 New York State New Music Network Tour; "TRIO," a three-part
composition for solo piano, performed at the New Music America Festival in
1984 in Hartford, Conn. July, 1984, and hosted by Real Artways; "Odyssey
of King" performed by The Brooklyn Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra at
Brooklyn's Botanical Garden, February, 1984 and "Celebrate Brooklyn"
at the Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, New York on June 23, 1984; "String
Quartet #2" was performed by The Kronos String Quartet on November 22,
1985 at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City; "Piano Duet #1"
performed by Ursula Oppens and Frederic Rzewski for Music at the Crossroads
on February 11, 1986, and sponsored by The Philip Morris Co. at the Whitney
Museum; "Saturation Blue" performed on March 14, 1986, by The Brooklyn
Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber Ensemble at Freeport High School, Freeport,
NY, Tania Leon, Conductor; "Folk Tales 88'" commissioned by The
Brooklyn Philharmonic and performed by The Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra
at Fort Hamilton Base, Brooklyn, NY on July 9, 1988, Tania Leon, Conductor;
"Transversion I OP. 6" performed February 22 & 23, 1991 by The
Detroit Symphony Orchestra at the Unisys Corporation Classical Roots series
in Detroit, Michigan; "What A Man" commissioned for the Black Repertory
Ensemble by the Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago
and the Friends of the Chicago Public Library in honor of the Late Mayor Harold
Washington and to commemorate the opening of The Harold Washington Library
on October 7, 1991; "The String Quartet III" commissioned by Bang
On The Can and performed by The Cassatt String Quartet in May, 1992; "Strings
and Things" commissioned by The String Trio of
New York in 1992, "Saxophone Quartet 1" commissioned by The Rova
Saxophone Quartet in 1994; "New Horizons" commissioned by New Band
in 1995; Duet for Violin and Piano, commissioned by the McKim Fund in the
Library of Congress, 1996;
"Impressions 1" commissioned by The Association for the Advancement
of Creative Musicians and performed in 1997 by The SEM Ensemble, Petr Kotik
conductor.
"Tomorrow's Song, As Yesterday Sings Today" commissioned by the
American Composers Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies Director; with the generous
support of Francis Goelet; "Baritone Voice And String Quartet" commissioned
by Thomas Buckner and performed at Merkin Hall in New york City on February
25, 1999; "2000 Plus The Twelfth Step" commissioned for The Carnegie
Hall Jazz Band; Jon Faddis, Music Director, by The Carnegie Hall Corporation.
The world premiere was given at Carnegie Hall, New York City on Thursday,
March 18 1999.
In addition to teaching privately for the past twenty years or more, Mr. Abrams has taught jazz composition and improvisational classes at: The Banff Center in Banff, Canada, Columbia University in New York City, Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY, The New England Conservatory, Boston Mass., The BMI Composers workshop in New York City, and The Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland.
Musicians Affiliation
Muhal has performed and\or recorded with musicians such as: Max Roach, Dexter Gordon, Clifford Jordan, Sonny Stitt, Woody Shaw, Ray Nance, Kenny Dorham Anthony Braxton, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Eddie Harris, Von Freeman, and many others.
Current Activities
Recording and touring the United States, Canada,
and Europe with his orchestra, sextet, quartet, duo, and as a solo pianist.
In addition, composing and scoring large orchestra and chamber works.