Short Biography

Recipient of the 2019 American Prize in Orchestral Composition, composer Wayne Horvitz performs extensively throughout Europe, Japan, and North America.  In addition to creating work for his own ensembles, he has created new work for The Kitchen, BAM, Seattle Symphony, Berlin Jazz, Nocco, Vienna Radio Orchestra, Centrum, and ACT among others. He has received awards from, MAP, McKnight Foundation, the NEA, Meet the Composer, and The Shifting Foundation. among others. Narrative works include pieces centered around the life of Joe Hill, the story of the Everett Massacre, and the poems of Richard Hugo. Installation work has been presented at Ft. Worden, SAM and Arizona State Museum of Art. He is the recipient of the 2016 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award.

Collaborators include Robin Holcomb, Bill Frisell, Reggie Watts, Butch Morris, Alex Guy, Ikue Mori, George Lewis, Steve Swallow, Yukio Suzuki, Billy Bang, Carla Bley, Eyvind Kang, John Zorn (Naked City etc.), Bill Irwin, Gus Van Sant, Paul Taylor, Beth Fleenor, Rinde Eckert, Yohei Saito, Barbara Earl Thomas, David Moss, Carey Perloff, Paul Taylor, Dayna Hanson, and Gus Van Sant. He has produced recordings for the WorldSaxophone Quartet, Human Feel, Fontella Bass, Marty Ehrlich, John Adams, Bill Frisell, Robin Holcomb, and Eddie Palmieri.

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Selected Works for Theater and Dance

Score for Invisible Ink based on the life of Mata Hari.  Directed by Nikki Apino, Choreography by Wade Madsen, and produced by House of Dames.  Premiere at On The Boards, Seattle.  (2002)

Town Mouse and Country Mouse:  A musical adaptation of the classic Aesop’s fable.  Script by Todd Jefferson Moore.  Music and Lyrics by Wayne Horvitz.   Comissioned by and premiered at the Seattle International Childrenís Festival, May 2001.  Featuring Reggie Watts and Danny Barnes.

Score for The Professor, The Puppet, and The Executioner.  Written and performed by Todd Jefferson Moore.  Directed by Nikki Apino.  Premiered April 2001, ACT Theater, Seattle.

Score for Death of a Salesman, ACT Theater, Seattle.  Directed by Gordon Edelstein. (1998)

Musical director and composer, The Last Paving Stone, by Y. York, directed by Mark Lutwak.  Idaho Theater for Youth. (1998)

Live Score for Broken Day by Choreographer Crispin Spaeth (with Julian Priester and Eyvind Kang).  Performed at On The Boards and Oberlin College. (1997)

Three year collaboration with choreographer Liz Lerman for evening length work Shehechianu.  Premiere of final work at Washington D.C.’s Shakespeare Theater. (1997)

Community based performance work with choreographer Liz Lerman in Portsmouth, N.H.  One month residency in Portsmouth working with local marching band, women’s choir, tap dancers and others.  Composed and recorded electronic works for dancers, choral work for the choir based on Hebrew text, and two 8-10 minute pieces for marching band.   All works were performed various times during the last week and all together on the Final Sunday entitled Portsmouth Pages – The Shipyard Project. 90 minute documentary for NH PBS, aired in spring 1999. (1997)

Music for Bill Irwin’s Broadway show Strictly NY.  Also performed throughout the US. Music of OZ by choreographer Paul Taylor in collaboration with the White Oak Dance Company.

Music for Ezra Pound’s Elektra and the American premier of Harold Pinter’s Mountain Language. Both works directed by Carey Perloff.

Selected Movie and Television Works

Sound design for Gus Van Sant’s Psycho.

Composed, arranged and performed score for PBS (KCTS) 90 minute documentary on Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly entitled Chihuly in Venice.  First PBS HDTV broadcast.  Premiered October 1998.

Produced and performed on the Bill Frisell score for the animated television special Tales from the Far Side by cartoonist Gary Larson.  Broadcast nationally on CBS in October 1994.

A sequel entitled Tales from the Far Side II has been completed and is due to be released on Fox Television in 1999.

Composed music for two Interactive CD-ROMS for Microsoft, comprising educational programs for children entitled Ancient Lives and Dinosaurs.   Dinosaurs received an EMMA award for Best Sound Design for a Multimedia title (Germany, 1993).

Produced and co-composed score with Robin Holcomb for the PBS documentary A Woman’s Health (produced by KCTS, Seattle WA, and broadcast nationally in November/December 1994.)

Composed and performed music for parts of an Interactive Laser Disc entitled Math Sleuths (produced by Video Discovery, Seattle).

Produced soundtrack for major motion picture La Scuola by Daniele Luchetti, music performed by Bill Frisell. Performed music for Books on Tape: William Burroughs reads Naked Lunch (1996) Composed music for Levi’s 501 Blue Jeans commercial directed by Gus Van Sant (1996).

Composed “Midi File” pieces for Microsoft Network, and special projects: Get a Life and Cannes Film Festival website.

Composed music for 24 Episodes of Elementary Science Sleuths, a children’s science program co-produced by Scholastic in NY and Video Discovery.