Biography

Kirk O'Riordan (b. 1968) is an active composer, conductor, saxophonist, and teacher.His music has been performed in Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Finland, Italy, and Russia; and in 23 of the fifty United States. Performances of his works have been featured at the Ravenna Festival (Italy), the Western Illinois New Music Festival, the 2008 Eugene Rousseau Birthday Celebration, national and regional conferences of the Society of Composers, Inc. and the College Music Society; and in concert by such performers as the Eaken Piano Trio, Orchestra Bruno Maderna (Italy), the Arizona State University Chamber Winds and Symphony Orchestra,the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Cleveland State University Orchestra, the University of Colorado Chamber Wind Ensemble, the Williamsport Chamber Chorus and Orchestra, the Susquehanna University Orchestra,Kenneth Tse, Jeffrey Lyman, Marco Albonetti, Russell Peterson, Emily Bullock, Andrew Rammon, Reuben Councill, John Perrine, and Holly Roadfeldt-O'Riordan.

Kirk is the recipient of numerous awards as both a composer and a performer, including annual ASCAPlus awards, a Composer's Assistance Program grant from the American Music Center, the 2001 Arizona State University Composition Competition, the 2000 Contemporary Music Society competition, and an ERM-Media Masterworks Prize. In addition, his Cadenza for Piano Trio was one of two works selected by audience members at the CMS Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Super-regional Conference for performance at the 2008 CMS National Conference.

Kirk's music has been broadcast on KBAQ, WQSU, and WVIA radio. His Cathedral for Alto Saxophone and Organ appears on a recording by Frederick Hemke and Douglass Cleveland (EnF Records), and River Lights will appear on Masterworks of the New Era vol. 15 (December 2008 on ERM-Media).

Dr. O'Riordan has served on the faculties of Bucknell University and Susquehanna University where he has taught music theory, composition, music appreciation, and (English) writing. He has also served on the faculties of Lock Haven University, Colorado Christian University, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, and Paradise Valley Community College. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University (the first recipient of that degree from ASU); the Certificate of Performance in Saxophone from Northwestern University; and three Master of Music degrees (composition, saxophone performance, and conducting).

His academic pursuits have ranged from writings on musical aesthetics to works in musical analysis and aural skills pedagogy. Several of his writings were developed from essays presented on his radio program, Face the Music, which aired from 2007-2008 on WQSU-FM. His current scholarly work focuses on interdisciplinary: he presented On Teaching Composition: Similarities, Differences, and Aesthetics of Teaching Music and Prose at regional and national conferences of the College Music Society, and continues an active interest in contemporaneous art works which span multiple disciplines.

Kirk has studied composition with Rodney Rogers, Randall Shinn, James De Mars, Glenn Hackbarth, Jay Alan Yim, Burton Beerman, Marilyn Shrude, and Donald M.Wilson. He has studied saxophone with Frederick L. Hemke, John Sampen, Eugene Rousseau, and Iwan Roth.

In his spare time, Dr. O'Riordan is an avid hockey player: as back-up goalie and faculty advisor, he led the Susquehanna University club team to the 2008 Susquehanna Valley Hockey League Championship.