Wayne Horvitz


Wayne Horvitz is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer. He came to prominence in the Downtown scene of 1980s and '90s New York City, where he met his future wife, the singer, songwriter and pianist Robin Holcomb. He is noted for working with John Zorn's Naked City among others. Horvitz has since relocated to the Seattle, Washington area where he has several ongoing groups and has worked as an adjunct professor of composition at Cornish College of the Arts.
WWW waynehorvitz.netIG waynehorvitz

Biography

Horvitz, a "defiant cross-breeder of genres", has led the groups The President, Pigpen, Zony Mash, and the Four Plus One Ensemble.
Works for theater and dance include music for the 1998 production of Death of a Salesman for Seattle's ACT theater ; productions of Ezra Pound's Elektra and the American premiere of Harold Pinter's Mountain Language, both directed by Carey Perloff. In 1992 choreographer Paul Taylor created a new work, OZ, to eleven compositions by Wayne Horvitz in collaboration with the White Oak Dance Company. Other theater and dance works include music for Bill Irwin's Broadway show, Strictly NY, and productions by the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Ammi Legendre, Nikki Apino and House of Dames and the Crispin Spaeth Dance Company.
Horvitz has also composed and produced music for a variety of video, film, television and other multimedia projects, including two projects with director Gus Van Sant, a full length score for PBS's Chihuly Over Venice, and two films about the creation of Seattle's EMP museum. His 85-minute score to Charlie Chaplin's film The Circus, for two pianos, two clarinets, and violin premiered in January 2000 in Oporto, Portugal.
As of April 2007 Horvitz performs with Gravitas Quartet, Sweeter Than The Day and Varmint. Since 2008, Horvitz has led The Golden Road, playing music from the early years of The Grateful Dead. In December 2011, Horvitz opened the Royal Room, a live music venue in Columbia City, Seattle. Since that time he has developed his technique of conduction, a framework for conducted improvisation using hand gestures that refer to precomposed musical structures that draws on his previous work with Butch Morris.

Discography

Leader

No Place Fast Simple Facts Dinner at Eight This New Generation Monologue Film Works Music For 10 Musicians
Wayne Horvitz, 4+1 Ensemble 4+1 Ensemble From a Window
Wayne Horvitz, Gravitas Quartet Way Out East
Wayne Horvitz, Sweeter Than the Day American Bandstand - later released as Forever Sweeter Than the Day Live at the Rendezvous
Pigpen Halfrack
The President The President Bring Yr Camera Miracle Mile
Zony Mash Cold Spell Brand Spankin' New Upper Egypt Live in Seattle
  • ''Live at the Royal Room''

Co-leader

Robin Holcomb / Wayne HorvitzSolos
Wayne Horvitz, Butch Morris, William Parker TrioSome Order, Long Understood
Wayne Horvitz, Butch Morris, Bobby Previte TrioNine Below Zero Todos Santos... Play Robin Holcomb
Wayne Horvitz / Ron Samworth/ Peggy Lee/ Dylan van der SchyffIntersection Poems
Mylab Mylab
New York Composers' Orchestra NY Composers Orchestra First Program in Standard Time
Ponga Ponga Psychological
Donald Rubinstein, Wayne Horvitz and Zony MashA Man Without Love
The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet Voodoo
John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Bobby Previte, Wayne Horvitz

As sideman

With Bill Frisell
With Robin Holcomb
  • Larks, They Crazy
  • Robin Holcomb
  • Rockabye
  • The Big Time
  • The Point of It All
With Bobby Previte
With Michael Shrieve
  • Fascination
  • Two Doors "In the Palace of Dreams"
With Hal Wilner and James Grauerholz on William S. Burroughs
  • Naked Lunch
  • Let Me Hang You
With John Zorn

Composer