GYAN RILEY
Friday 7:00 PM at the Bijou Theatre
Terry Riley Quartet w/ Gyan Riley, Tracy Silverman and Ches Smith
Saturday 4:00 PM at the Bijou Theatre
Clogs (w/ Shara Worden, Matt Berninger, Aaron Dessner and Sulfjan Stevens) w/ Gyan Riley
Saturday 4:00 PM at the Bijou Theatre
Clogs (w/Sufjan Stevens, Matt Berninger, Aaron Dessner and Shara Worden) with Gyan Riley
Sufjan Stevens, Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner of the National and Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) will be joining Clogs in their performance of the new song cycle The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton. Big Ears 2010 will feature the only live performance of the piece currently scheduled with all of the guest vocalists on the recording.
Guitarist and composer Gyan Riley is an equally strong presence in the worlds of classical guitar and of contemporary music. The son of composer and Big Ears artist in residence Terry Riley, one suspects that he must dream in music.
He has an extraordinary capacity to interpret a wide variety of material with ease, as well as a depth of expression in his playing that is both enviable and heart-breaking. He plays electric guitar as well, but is most often heard in concert and on recordings playing classical guitar.
While studying as the first full-scholarship guitar student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he received a recording contract for his debut CD of original works, Food for the Bearded, released in 2002 on New Albion Records.
A rigorous performance schedule finds him in demand throughout Europe and across the U.S., both as a soloist and in ensemble with various artists such as Zakir Hussain, Michael Manring, Dawn Upshaw, the San Francisco Symphony, the Falla Guitar Trio, the World Guitar Ensemble, and his father, the composer/pianist/vocalist Terry Riley.
Gyan Riley makes music that is “inventive and adventurous… interesting, intricate and deeply felt,…but [there are] also more subtle personal and spiritual qualities that make Gyan a unique and exceptional artist.” – Dusan Bogdanovic
