	Penguinman Music The official site of composer Kyle Rowan
HOME NEWS ABOUT THE COMPOSER MUSIC CONTACT	Kyle and his wife Brooke, after the premiere of Visions of the beloved disciple Kyle Rowan’s interest in music began as an aspiring clarinetist in South Florida. His introduction to composition came in his first clarinet lessons, during which he was encouraged to compose short solos to a pre-composed chordal accompaniment. He continued his interest in both clarinet and composition through high school, after which he entered the University of Florida in 2003 to study clarinet with the intention of becoming an orchestral clarinetist. During that year, the exposure to contemporary music he received while enrolled in a group composition class, especially the music of Olivier Messiaen, began to shift his priorities, and he soon became a full-time composition major. In May 2007, he graduated summa cum laude with the degree of Bachelor of Music Composition with a Performer’s Certificate in clarinet and was named Most Outstanding Undergraduate of his class. He is currently pursuing the degree of Master of Music Composition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A versatile composer, his music is often characterized by an emphasis on expression and a certain degree of lyricism. As a performer himself, idiomatic writing is of utmost performance. He has received numerous performances of his music, most notably of his one act opera Robin and Marion, funded through a grant from the University of Florida’s University Scholars Program; it was premiered on March 7, 2007, by the talented singers of the University of Florida Opera Theater. His recent interest in the use of text and language as an extramusical inspiration was begun with Visions of the beloved disciple, which was commissioned by the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra and premiered on February 20, 2009, which was inspired by the book of Revelation. His current projects aim to explore the use of text as a source while avoiding strict representation of the semantics; he is also interested in the use of time and timelessness as a structural material. He has been awarded the A. Didier Graeffe Composition Scholarship twice, and has been named an "Emerging Young Composer" by the New York Art Ensemble for his solo flute piece Lamentations. He has studidied composition with Reynold Tharp, Mei-Fang Lin, Erik Lund, James Paul Sain, Paul Richards, Paul Koonce, Sam Hamm, and Paul Basler, as well as electronic music with Scott Wyatt and algorithmic composition with Heinrich Taube. He currently studies with Zack Browning. As a clarinetist, he has performed with numerous ensembles at the University of Florida as well as the Albany (GA) Symphony and the Ganiesville Chamber Orchestra; he served as principal clarinet on a recent performance of Verdi's La Traviata. An avid bassett hornist, he has competed in the University of Florida Concerto Competition on his own bassett horn concerto as well as performing many of the traditional works for the instrument, such as Mozart's Gran Partita and the Mendelssohn Concertpieces. In March 2007 he performed Weber's Fantasia and Rondo as soloist with the University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble after winning the Clarinet Studio Concerto Competition. An avid performer of new music, he has performed many of the cotemporary masterpieces for clarinet, such as Luciano Berio’s Sequenza IX and Olivier Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps. He will be premiering several new works for the clarinet this spring by composers Quinn Collins, Ming-Ching Chiu, Pin-Hsin Lin, and Daniel Swilley. His teachers include Mitchell Estrin and Michael Forte. Kyle currently resides in Champaign, Illinois, with his wife Brooke, who so graciously puts up with him on a daily basis.

Penguinman Music

The official site of composer Kyle Rowan

Kyle and his wife Brooke, after the premiere of Visions of the beloved disciple

Kyle Rowan’s interest in music began as an aspiring clarinetist in South Florida. His introduction to composition came in his first clarinet lessons, during which he was encouraged to compose short solos to a pre-composed chordal accompaniment. He continued his interest in both clarinet and composition through high school, after which he entered the University of Florida in 2003 to study clarinet with the intention of becoming an orchestral clarinetist. During that year, the exposure to contemporary music he received while enrolled in a group composition class, especially the music of Olivier Messiaen, began to shift his priorities, and he soon became a full-time composition major. In May 2007, he graduated summa cum laude with the degree of Bachelor of Music Composition with a Performer’s Certificate in clarinet and was named Most Outstanding Undergraduate of his class. He is currently pursuing the degree of Master of Music Composition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

A versatile composer, his music is often characterized by an emphasis on expression and a certain degree of lyricism. As a performer himself, idiomatic writing is of utmost performance. He has received numerous performances of his music, most notably of his one act opera Robin and Marion, funded through a grant from the University of Florida’s University Scholars Program; it was premiered on March 7, 2007, by the talented singers of the University of Florida Opera Theater. His recent interest in the use of text and language as an extramusical inspiration was begun with Visions of the beloved disciple, which was commissioned by the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra and premiered on February 20, 2009, which was inspired by the book of Revelation. His current projects aim to explore the use of text as a source while avoiding strict representation of the semantics; he is also interested in the use of time and timelessness as a structural material. He has been awarded the A. Didier Graeffe Composition Scholarship twice, and has been named an "Emerging Young Composer" by the New York Art Ensemble for his solo flute piece Lamentations. He has studidied composition with Reynold Tharp, Mei-Fang Lin, Erik Lund, James Paul Sain, Paul Richards, Paul Koonce, Sam Hamm, and Paul Basler, as well as electronic music with Scott Wyatt and algorithmic composition with Heinrich Taube. He currently studies with Zack Browning.

As a clarinetist, he has performed with numerous ensembles at the University of Florida as well as the Albany (GA) Symphony and the Ganiesville Chamber Orchestra; he served as principal clarinet on a recent performance of Verdi's La Traviata. An avid bassett hornist, he has competed in the University of Florida Concerto Competition on his own bassett horn concerto as well as performing many of the traditional works for the instrument, such as Mozart's Gran Partita and the Mendelssohn Concertpieces. In March 2007 he performed Weber's Fantasia and Rondo as soloist with the University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble after winning the Clarinet Studio Concerto Competition. An avid performer of new music, he has performed many of the cotemporary masterpieces for clarinet, such as Luciano Berio’s Sequenza IX and Olivier Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps. He will be premiering several new works for the clarinet this spring by composers Quinn Collins, Ming-Ching Chiu, Pin-Hsin Lin, and Daniel Swilley. His teachers include Mitchell Estrin and Michael Forte.

Kyle currently resides in Champaign, Illinois, with his wife Brooke, who so graciously puts up with him on a daily basis.