Michael Fiday
Composer
Tina Gutierrez - Arts Photography
Described as “clearly structured, colorful and unflaggingly compelling work” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and “a precise appeal to an inner ear beyond the mind” (Gramophone Magazine), the music of Michael Fiday is known for its expressive directness, inventive sound world, gradually unfolding dramatic narratives, and distinctive rhythmic energy.
His work has been commissioned and performed internationally by a broad range of renowned performers spanning the worlds of classical and contemporary music, including Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica de Guanajuato, Percussion Ensemble of The Hague, Mantra Percussion, Percussion Group Cincinnati, Duo Damiana (flutist Molly Barth, guitarist Dieter Hennings), pianists Marc-Andre Hamelin and James Tocco, violinists Carla Kihlstedt and Graeme Jennings, and electric guitarists Seth Josel, Derek Johnson and Taylor Levine.
Mr. Fiday has also been granted commissions from the Fromm Foundation, Barlow Foundation, National Flute Association, and American Composers Forum, and has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, ASCAP, the Institute of International Education, and three Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council. He has been awarded numerous residencies at distinguished artist colonies such as The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Copland House, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Headlands Center for the Arts, and has served as Composer-in-Residence at Charlotte New Music Festival and the Musikhochschule Münster in Muenster, Germany, where he helped curate a two-week festival devoted to his own music.
Michael Fiday holds a Ph.D. and M.A. degree from University of Pennsylvania, where he studied music composition, and a B.M. from University of Colorado, where he studied composition, violin and philosophy. His principal teachers in composition have included Richard Toensing at University of Colorado, George Crumb at University of Pennsylvania, and Louis Andriessen, with whom he studied in Amsterdam under the auspices of a Fulbright Grant. He currently holds the position of Professor of Composition at the College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati, where he has taught since 2002.
Michael Fiday’s music has been commissioned and performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and elsewhere by a diverse range of performers such as Cincinnati Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Percussion Ensemble of The Hague, pianists James Tocco and Marc-Andre Hamelin, and electric guitarist Seth Josel. His principal teachers in composition have included Richard Toensing at University of Colorado, George Crumb at University of Pennsylvania, and Louis Andriessen, with whom he studied in Amsterdam under the auspices of a Fulbright Grant. Mr. Fiday is the recipient of numerous awards, grants and residencies from, among others, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Fromm Foundation, Barlow Foundation, American Composers Forum, BMI, ASCAP, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Headlands Center for the Arts, and the Ohio Arts Council. He is currently Professor of Composition at the College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati.