Vijay Iyer

Born in Albany, New York in 1971, Grammy-nominated composer-pianist Vijay Iyer has been described by Pitchfork as “one of the most interesting and vital young pianists in jazz today” and by the Los Angeles Weekly as “a boundless and deeply important young star”. He was named DownBeat magazine’s 2015 Artist of the Year and 2014 Pianist of the Year, and in 2013 was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (“Genius Grant”). In 2014 he began a permanent appointment as the Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts in the music department at Harvard University.
 
The New York Times observed, “There’s probably no frame wide enough to encompass the creative output of the pianist Vijay Iyer.” He has released twenty albums covering remarkably diverse terrain, most recently for ECM. The latest include Break Stuff(2015), featuring the Vijay Iyer Trio (with Marcus Gilmore on drums and Stephan Crump on bass [...]
Born in Albany, New York in 1971, Grammy-nominated composer-pianist Vijay Iyer has been described by Pitchfork as “one of the most interesting and vital young pianists in jazz today” and by the Los Angeles Weekly as “a boundless and deeply important young star”. He was named DownBeat magazine’s 2015 Artist of the Year and 2014 Pianist of the Year, and in 2013 was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (“Genius Grant”). In 2014 he began a permanent appointment as the Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts in the music department at Harvard University.
 
The New York Times observed, “There’s probably no frame wide enough to encompass the creative output of the pianist Vijay Iyer.” He has released twenty albums covering remarkably diverse terrain, most recently for ECM. The latest include Break Stuff(2015), featuring the Vijay Iyer Trio (with Marcus Gilmore on drums and Stephan Crump on bass – the  2015 Jazz Group of the year in the DownBeat International Critics Poll) which earned a five-star rating in DownBeat and was hailed by PopMatters as “the best band in jazz”; Mutations (2014), featuring Iyer’s music for piano, string quartet and electronics, which “extends and deepens his range… showing a delicate, shimmering, translucent side of his playing” (Chicago Tribune); and Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi (2014), “his most challenging and impressive work, the scintillating score to a compelling film by Prashant Bhargava” (DownBeat), performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble and released by ECM on DVD and BluRay. In preparation is a duo album with trumpet player Wadada Leo Smith.
 
Iyer’s accomplishments extend well beyond his recordings. His recent composer commissions include Playlist for an Extreme Occasion (2012) written for Silk Road Ensemble; Dig The Say, written for Brooklyn Rider; and Mozart Effects (2011) and Time, Place, Action (2014) for the Brentano String Quartet. His orchestral work Interventions was commissioned and premiered by the American Composers Orchestra in 2007 under the baton of Dennis Russell Davies. A polymath whose career has spanned the sciences, the humanities and the arts, Iyer received an interdisciplinary PhD in the cognitive science of music from the University of California, Berkeley; his writing has appeared in a wide range of publications, both popular and academic.
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YEAR DATE Artist VENUE LOCATION
2023 March 31 Vijay Iyer Big Ears Festival Knoxville TN, United States
2023 April 07 Vijay Iyer / Linda May Han Oh / Tyshawn Sorey SF Jazz San Francisco CA, United States
2023 April 08 Vijay Iyer / Linda May Han Oh / Tyshawn Sorey SF Jazz San Francisco CA, United States
2023 April 09 Vijay Iyer / Linda May Han Oh / Tyshawn Sorey SF Jazz San Francisco CA, United States
2023 April 12 Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith Millard Auditorium, University of Hartford Hartford CT, United States
2023 April 14 Vijay Iyer

w/ Arooj Aftab, Shazad Ismaily

The Strathmore Bethesda MD, United States
2023 April 28 Vijay Iyer

w/ Arooj Aftab, Shazad Ismaily

U. of Vermont Burlington VT, United States
2023 May 03 Vijay Iyer Cavafy Festival, National Sawdust Brooklyn NY, United States
2023 May 04 Vijay Iyer Cavafy Festival, National Sawdust Brooklyn NY, United States
2023 May 15 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 16 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 17 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 18 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 19 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 20 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 21 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 22 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 23 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 24 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 25 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 26 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 27 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 May 28 Vijay Iyer Trio Dizzy's New York NY, United States
2023 June 26 Vijay Iyer

w/ Arooj Aftab, Shazad Ismaily

Vancouver Jazz Festival Vancouver BC, Canada
2023 June 28 Vijay Iyer

w/ Arooj Aftab, Shazad Ismaily

Ottawa Jazz Festival Ottawa, Canada
2023 June 29 Vijay Iyer

w/ Arooj Aftab, Shazad Ismaily

Montreal Jazz Festival Montreal QC, Canada
2023 July 29 Vijay Iyer

w/ Arooj Aftab, Shahzad Ismaily

Caramoor Center for the Arts Katonah NY, United States