The list of 2017 MacArthur fellows was released today. I found out in the opening moments of my seminar on creative music this morning—just before we discussed Weather Report, Snarky Puppy, and the misnomer of jazz fusion—that my professor, composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey MA ’11, is on it. Read more and find links to his work after the jump:
Tyshawn, who received a master’s in composition from Wesleyan, is now in his first semester as an Assistant Professor. He currently teaches my major seminar, as well as a performance course on conduction and collective improvisation called Real Time Autoschediasms for Electroacoustic Creative Orchestra. Check out some of his work as a deft solo drummer, an in-demand sideman, collaborative improviser, composer, and conductor.
Though the MacArthur Foundation doesn’t actually like people calling it a “genius” award, the grant is designed for exceptionally creative people who are on the cusp of significant creative achievements. It consists of a $625,000 stipend, disbursed over five years. Also included among the 24 fellows this year is playwright Annie Clark, whose piece “Circle Mirror Transformation” is coincidentally going up in the ’92 Theater this weekend.