Shirish Korde


Shirish Korde is a Ugandan composer of Indian ancestry. He is the Chair of the Music Department at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He has previously been on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music, the New England Conservatory, and Brown University. Korde studied jazz and composition at the Berklee College of Music, analysis and composition at the New England Conservatory, and ethnomusicology at Brown University.

Works

His works include:
Korde has composed five large-scale music-theatre works:
These works exhibit influences of Asian dramatic and musical forms, especially Balinese gamelan and shadow puppetry, Vedic chant, Tuva music from Central Asia, North Indian Tala, and shakuhachi music. Jazz elements and computer voice synthesis techniques are also incorporated into his music-theater works. Korde also composed KA, for the Boston Musica Viva, a work for cello and voice – Anusvara, Fifith Prism. He also composed a guitar concerto, Nada Ananda, released on CD featuring Simon Thacker and his ensemble. In 2021, Korde is working on a symphonic piece inspired by climate change, " Oceans Rising for the South Asian Symphony Orchestra." He was also a resident composer at the 2021 Seal Bay Festival.
He was described by Computer Music Journal as one of the few "contemporary composers who have been deeply touched by music of non-Western cultures, jazz, and computer technology and who has created a powerful and communicative compositional language."
Korde is the founder of Neuma Records.

Awards and grants