RecentNews Glass Blue Cleft Arborescence commssioned by Avian Orchestra was premiered on 9/24 in Greenville, DE, and on 9/26 in NYC>> Apricots of Andujar commssioned by the Jerome Foundation is in development. Click here to view a video >>
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Max Giteck Duykers is a composer whose work is dedicated to unusual beauty. His music has been performed throughout the United States, in Italy, England, and Romania. He was recently commissioned by the Jerome Foundation>> to compose The Apricots of Andujar for his father, tenor John Duykers>>, electro-acoustic percussionist Joel Davel,>> and pierrot sextet. This is a chamber opera which is being developed with acclaimed filmmaker and playwright Philip Gotanda>> and veteran director Melissa Weaver>>. The piece was workshopped with Birds on a Wire at Western Michigan University in March 2012>>, and will be premiered by Fear No Music at the Astoria Music Festival>> in Oregon in the summer of 2013, and by Earplay>> in San Francisco and Petaluma in the 2013-2014 season.
He was also recently commissioned by the Avian Orchestra>> to write Arborescence for accordion and pierrot sextet, which was premiered last fall in NYC and along the East Coast. Other commissions and premieres include The Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra>>, the Oakland Youth Orchestra>>, The Seattle Chamber Players>>, Anti-Social Music>>, Trio Tara>>, The Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players>>, HERE Arts Center>>, PS122>>, La Mama ETC>> and the Stony Brook Department of Theatre Arts>>.
Duykers' Setti Momenti for flute, violin, viola, and piano was commissioned by the Le Ville Matte>> music residency in Sardinia, Italy, where he spent the summer of 2010. The piece was premiered and recorded for an upcoming release. Duykers’ music was also featured at three recent music festivals: Music08>> at the University of Cincinnati, soundSCAPE>> at the Vittadini School of Music in Pavia, Italy, and the Seattle Chamber Players’ Icebreaker IV>>, curated by The New Yorker’s Alex Ross>>. His pierrot sextet Twilight For Adored and Breathless Moments was called “full of surprises” by The Seattle Weekly>>, and a “gem…beautiful…an absolute pleasure to hear” by artdish.com>>. Glass Blue Cleft was recorded by the Escher String Quartet>> and released on Bridge Records>> in April 2010 (Bridge 9318). Of the piece, Three Village Patch>> writes "[Glass Blue Cleft] is a piece for lovers of the string quartet, those amazed by how fiery and how dulcet these four-stringed instruments can range in expression." It has also just been chosen as the winner of the New York Composers Circle Composers Competition, and will receive a performance at Symphony Space in the summer of 2012.>>
Duykers has also received commissions to compose music for over 35 theatrical, dance, film, and multimedia projects in the New York City area, and with the theatre group Prototype>> he was an artist-in-residence at HERE Arts Center>> in 2002-2004. In 2000-2001 he worked for Philip Glass’ The Looking Glass Studios>> and Dunvagen Music Publishers>>, where he did studio recording, Pro-Tools post-production, music sequencing, music copying and music editing for the Philip Glass Ensemble>>, film scoring projects, and operatic works. He holds a BM from Oberlin Conservatory>> where he studied composition with Randy Coleman>>, and he is currently a PhD candidate at Stony Brook University where he studies with Sheila Silver>>. At Stony Brook he has also taught music theory, musicianship and private composition to music majors. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Rebecca and son Quinlan>>.
Check out the Listen>> page for samples and the News>> page for updates and current performances.