About the composer

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 continued composition studies at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where he received the degree of Master of Music in 2009, and currently is pursuing his PhD in Music Composition at the University of California in San Diego.

A versatile composer, his music is often characterized by an emphasis on expression and a certain degree of lyricism. Of particular interest lately are issues of time, density, and form. Performances of his work include two one-act operas, Robin in Marion and The eighth daughter, two orchestral works, Visions of the beloved disciple and Cross sections, and many smaller chamber pieces.  His solo flute piece Lamentations led the New York Art Ensemble to call him an "emerging young composer", and he has been commissioned by groups such as the Kallisti Ensemble, TV Buddha, the soundSCAPE Festival, the University of Illinois New Music Ensemble, the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the University of Illinois Clarinet Choir, trumpeter Doug Surber, flutist Marcela DeFaria Causuban, clarinetist Jennifer Schundler Meyers, and violinist Lauren Holder.  His primary teachers include Mei-Fang Lin, Roger Reynolds, Paul Richards, James Paul Sain, Rand Steiger, and Reynold Tharp, and he currently studies with Katharina Rosenberger.

As a clarinetist, he has performed with numerous ensembles at the University of Florida as well as the Albany (GA) Symphony, the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, and the La Jolla Symphony; he served as principal clarinet on a recent performance of Verdi's La Traviata. As a 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 contemporary masterpieces for clarinet, such as Luciano Berio’s Sequenza IX and Olivier Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps. He has also commissioned and premiered several new works for the clarinet, including pieces by composers Halim Beere, Quinn Collins, Ming-Ching Chiu, Adam Goodwin, Pin-Hsin Lin, and Daniel Swilley. His teachers include Mitchell Estrin and Michael Forte.

Besides music, Kyle enjoys watching and playing baseball and football, and is on a seemingly unending quest to break 100 in a single round of golf.  He is fascinated by authors who write with an often peculiar sense of time, such as Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Holt, and Jasper Fforde.  His love of science fiction extends from Star Wars to Star Trek (particularly the TNG crew) to Doctor Who (particularly David Tennant's Tenth Doctor and the writing of Steve Moffet). 

He currently resides in San Diego, California, with his wife, Brooke, who so graciously puts up with him on a daily basis.