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About Me

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​​Hi there, I'm Collin. I live in Seattle with my partner and my cat where I write music, play saxophone, and plan events. They study science and catch bugs.

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As an artist, i'm interested in merging the magical and surreal with the mundane, incorporating folk and popular influences within a classical framework, and intertwining experimental theater with opera. I strive to expand beyond traditional genres to craft works that feel both familiar and unexpected. In doing so, I reject the concepts of highbrow/lowbrow or "elevating" art, it's all worth enjoying and analyzing to me. While my first love and home base will always be concert music, as of late, collaborating across disciplines excites me most. Reach out and let's dream up something new! collinkemeny@gmail.com.

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As a composer, I find timbre and color engage me most. In fact, the heart of my writing often involves the development, transformation, or contrast of color and style. I like when individual voices become indistinguishable within an overall texture and when musicians feel empowered to expand their performance beyond notes on a page. Much of my music could be considered scrapbooking, in a way, often pertaining to a person, sentiment, or philosophy I'm pondering at the time. 

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As a human, my current interests include: folk music from everywhere, the history of Potosí, Henri Dutilleux, Guillaume Connesson, Maria Teresa Vera, Alberto Ginestera, Michael Hobbs, my niece's cheeks, learning to play the jarana, foraging, fishing, and cooking with good company.

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Biography

Collin Kemeny is a composer whose works range from experimental, multidisciplinary-shows that utilize found objects and audience participation to intimate concert music and operas. While color and timbre drive his artistic voice, his works thematically explore music's abstract, sentimental, and communicative attributes.

 

Collin’s recent notable works include co-producing and composing A Recipe for Action, an immersive performance that combines structured and improvisatory music, dance, and visual art and raises awareness and resources for the food insecure in Austin, and Wet Dirt, a one-act chamber opera premiered by the Thompson Street Opera, that explores queer stigma through an intimate story of loss and love.

 

Collin holds a DMA from the University of Texas at Austin, a MM from the University of Colorado Boulder, and a BA from Case Western Reserve University. He received commissions by North Coast Winds, Wild Prairie Winds, Time Canvas Trio, FiveOne Experimental Orchestra, Boulder Altitude Directive, Ajax String Quartet, and others. Collin has earned awards and recognitions from the University of Texas Austin, University of Colorado Boulder, Case Western Reserve University, Vesper, Playground Ensemble, Austin Chamber Music Center, and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and is a recipient of SOURCE funding, a Rainwater Innovation Grant, Diversity Grant, and a Clock teaching award. Additionally, he held fellowships at the Talis Festival and Academy, Oregon Bach Festival, Impulse New Music Festival, and Original Vision with Overtone Industries. Outside of composing, Collin is an avid hiker and gardener - often finding inspiration from nature.

Copyright © 2024 Collin Kemeny

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