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 30 of the fifty United States. Performances of his works have been featured at the Ravenna Festival (Italy), the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and Western Illinois New Music Festivals, 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, Tresillo, The Moran Woodwind Quintet, 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 University of Delaware University Singers, the Williamsport Chamber Chorus and Orchestra, the Susquehanna University Orchestra and Chamber Singers, The Lafayette College Concert Band, the SKIN Ensemble, Frederick Hemke, Kenneth Tse, Jeffrey Lyman, Marco Albonetti, Russell Peterson, Emily Bullock, Steven Stusek, 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. Recordings of his works appear on the Centaur, ERM-Media and EnF labels, and feature performances by Frederick L. Hemke and Douglas Cleveland, The Kiev Philharmonic, and Farrell Vernon. He has recently received commissions from The Cecil College Station Players, the EastWind Ensemble, saxophonist Farrell Vernon, and the Grammy-nominated Eaken Piano Trio.

His recent collaborative projects have focused on music for dance: his River Lights for Orchestra (as recorded by the Kiev Philharmonic) was used by dancer/choreographer Ben Munisteri in his piece, Robot vs. Mermaid. O’Riordan has also collaborated with dancer Carrie Rohman; a second project with Rohman, Nandini Sikand, and the Lafayette College Percussion Ensemble will be premiered in December 2011.

In 2009 Dr. O'Riordan joined the faculty of Lafayette College where he serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands, teaching courses in music theory, and composition. In addition, he teaches in the First-year Seminar program and conducts the Lafayette College Concert Band. During his time at Lafayette, the Concert Band has performed several of the repertoire’s most challenging works, including Husa’s Music for Prague 1968, and world premieres by O’Riordan and composer William Pfaff.

Previously, he 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 interdisciplinarity: 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. To this end, he developed a seminar course for Lafayette College which studies the art, literature, and music created in one calendar year.

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. He currently serves the Lafayette College Ice Hockey team as faculty advisor.

downloads

Long Biography

Medium Biography

Short Biography

Promo Photo 1

Promo Photo 2 (2012)

Promo Photo 3 (2012)