COMPOSER SPOTLIGHT: DAVID CROWELL

New York City-based composer, saxophonist, and producer David Crowell brings a “singular vision that transcends genre” (Exclaim!) to diverse forms of composed and improvisational music, and has been praised for compositional work that is “notable for its crystalline sonic beauty” (The Boston Globe) and which “pulses with small, ecstatic fibrillations” (The New York Times). 

David’s music has been performed internationally at festivals and concert venues including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), MATA Festival, Bang on a Can Summer Marathon, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival, Library of Congress, Phillips Collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Cortona Sessions for New Music, Caramoor Festival, Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, Tribeca New Music Festival, National Sawdust, Merkin Hall, and Joe’s Pub. 

David has composed for prominent ensembles including the JACK Quartet, A Far Cry, Argus Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, New Morse Code, NOW Ensemble, Sandbox Percussion, and icarus Quartet. His compositions have been released on New Amsterdam, Innova, National Sawdust Tracks, Coviello Classics, and Skirl. 

David’s band, Empyrean Atlas, has been featured numerous times on WNYC’s New Sounds program, including a live performance/interview with John Schaefer. In 2017, The New York Times included Echolocation on their Pop Music Playlist for best newly released tracks. The rock band Wilco promoted Inner Circle as one of their 17 favorite records of 2014. 

As a woodwind performer, David toured internationally as a member of the Philip Glass Ensemble from 2007-16, including ten complete performances of Music in Twelve Parts and the 2012-15 revival of Einstein on the Beach. He has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Steve Reich, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Signal Ensemble, and the Asphalt Orchestra. LEARN MORE