Mark Grey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Grey is an American Classical music composer and sound engineer. He is the composer-in-residence for the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra for the 2007-2008 season. He has worked with such performers as Kronos Quartet^[1] and the Paul Dresher Ensemble,^[2] and composers including John Adams, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass.

[edit] Career

Mark Grey attended San Jose State University in California, where he studied electroacoustic music and composition with Pablo Furman and Allen Strange. He also performed with an experimental noise music ensemble called the Gas Chamber Orchestra.^[3] Grey received a Bachelor and Master of Arts in composition. Several years of teaching at the California State Summer School for the Arts allowed Grey to meet and establish ties with several contemporary composers and performers, including John Adams. Through Adams, Grey was introduced to Kronos Quartet in 1993. Kronos later recruited Grey to be one of live performance sound engineers.^[4]

Grey continued working as sound designer for John Adams. He was the recording engineer on Adams' Hoodoo Zephyr, and was the sound designer for El Niño, Doctor Atomic, and On the Transmigration of Souls.^[5]^[6] His design work with Adams has been viewed as "cutting edge" for the world of traditional Classical music; the sound design for Doctor Atomic marked the first time house amplification was used in concert halls such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago or the New York Metropolitan Opera.^[7]

Grey's most recent work includes the Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio, which premiered on February 7, 2008.^[8]^[9] The work features a libretto by Navajo author Laura Tohe and photographs by Deborah O'Grady.^[10] A recording of the work is to be released on Naxos Records.^[11]