Double Takes And Triple Plays

Contemporary American Music

Joseph Koykkar composer

Release Date: February 12, 2016
Catalog #: RR7925
Format: Digital & Physical
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Large Ensemble
Piano
Saxophone

Composer Joseph Koykkar, described by American Record Guide as writing “music with a crystalline kind of clarity and rhythmic urgency that places him among the more exciting of contemporary composers,” presents his debut full-length release on Ravello Records DOUBLE TAKES AND TRIPLE PLAYS. Featuring works spanning a 20-year period in the composer’s career, this album exemplifies Koykkar’s practical approach to writing, dictated by the bounds and the interplay within chamber ensemble combinations, occasionally using computer-generated sounds.

As the works on this album illustrate, Koykkar pulls influences from a variety of genres, from American music styles such as popular, jazz, rock, and blues music, to the Western European concert music tradition of the last three centuries. Pieces like Keyboard Dances incorporate blues and rock themes with a raucous quality reminiscent of early boogie-woogie piano music, while Interfacing and Triple Play use electronics to enhance the keyboard’s textures. Koykkar also includes programmatic works like Streets and Bridges, which depicts imagery of specific streets and places in Milwaukee from the composer’s past including Downer Avenue, Lafayette Place, and Brady Street.

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Artist Information

Joseph Koykkar

Composer

Joseph Koykkar is a musician who is at home in a variety of music from classical to avant-garde to rock and blues. As a composer, he has had his music performed nationally and internationally for over the past 30 years. Besides Double Takes and Triple Plays, his music can be heard on ten additional CDs, including an all-Koykkar release on Northeastern Records in 1992. In the past ten years three of his compositions (Out Front, Panache, and Streets and Bridges) have been in contention for a Grammy in the “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” category. He has composed for a variety of media including chamber music, orchestra, music for dance, film/video scores, and electronic/computer music. In addition to composing he is a pianist and conductor. He holds degrees from Indiana University (M.Mus.) and the University of Miami (DMA) and has received grants and awards from such sources as the Pew Charitable Trust for Music, the NEA, Meet the Composer, ASCAP, the American Music Center, the Wisconsin Arts Board and the American Composers Forum.