Roger Reynolds

Who is Roger Reynolds?

Roger Reynolds is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer.

Roger Reynolds, Pulitzer prize-winning American composer, was born July 18, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan. He is known for his capacity to integrate diverse ideas and resources, for the seamless blending of traditional musical sounds and those newly enabled by technology. His work responds to text of poetic or mythological origins. His reputation rests, in part, upon his “wizardry in sending music flying through space: whether vocal, instrumental, or computerized”. This signature feature first appeared in the notationally innovative theater piece, The Emperor of Ice-Cream.

During his early career, Reynolds worked in Europe and Asia, returning to the US in 1969 to accept an appointment in the music department at the University of California, San Diego. His leadership there established it as a state of the art facility – in parallel with Stanford, Ircam, and MIT – a center for composition and computer music exploration. He has addressed the tradition with three symphonies, and four string quartets, works that have been performed internationally as well as in North America.