Bryce Dessner
Biography
Bryce Dessner is a versatile composer, sought-after musical collaborator and guitarist, whose output has garnered him a Grammy Award and ranges from intimate chamber pieces and scaled-down works for solo instrumentalists to full orchestral scores and concertos. He is also a founding member of Grammy Award-winning rock band The National.
In addition to his role as one of eight San Francisco Symphony Collaborative Partners, Bryce Dessner is currently Creative Chair of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and Artist-in-Residence at London’s Southbank Centre and with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Major new works include a Piano Concerto premièred by Alice Sara Ott and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in January 2024 and now being performed internationally; a Concerto for Two Pianos premièred by Katia & Marielle Labèque and the London Philharmonic Orchestra; and a Violin Concerto premièred and performed internationally by Pekka Kuusisto. Dessner’s in-demand compositions have been performed by leading orchestras around the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Philharmonia Orchestra of London and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
He has co-founded several new-music festivals, including the Cincinnati-based MusicNOW Festival in 2006, Copenhagen’s Haven Festival and the Cork-based Sounds from a Safe Harbour.Bryce Dessner’s musical career has been rich and eclectic. Born into a musical family based in Cincinnati, he started out learning the flute as a child before switching to classical guitar in his teenage years, graduating from Yale University with a Masters in Music before finding fame as a founder member, guitarist, arranger and writer for alternative rock band The National.
Alongside his classical compositions, Dessner is also much sought after as a film composer, with recent and upcoming releases including the film Sing Sing starring Colman Domingo (due for release by A24 in summer 2024), limited series Manhunt (released in March 2024 on Apple TV), and John Crowley’s We Live in Time (due for release 2024 on A24). Over the years he has garnered great acclaim for his work on films such as Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant with the late Ryuichi Sakamoto and for his music to Netflix’s Fernando Meirelles’s The Two Popes. Dessner’s many musical collaborations include working with Philip Glass, Johnny Greenwood, Bon Iver, Steve Reich, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Sufjan Stevens, Taylor Swift and Thom Yorke. Extraordinarily gifted, collaborative, secure in his own musical language and brimming with ideas, Bryce Dessner is a singular talent whose addition to the roster is warmly welcomed as he expands the repertoire with his new music, bringing with him his trademark original deep thinking, enthusiasm for all types of music and forward-thinking creative partnerships.
Current album
Solos
Artists Bryce DessnerRelease Date: 08/23/2024
Composer, guitarist and collaborator BRYCE DESSNER releases his Sony Classical debut album 'Solos'. Available everywhere now, the album is a collection of unaccompanied instrumental works written by Dessner over the past few years from both his classical and scoring catalogue. Solos showcases not only Dessner’s compositional flair but also the immense talent of his frequent collaborators and friends. Featured soloists include cellist Anastasia Kobekina; violinist Pekka Kuusisto; pianist Katia Labèque; harpist Lavinia Meijer; violist Nadia Sirota; percussionist Colin Currie and Dessner himself on acoustic guitar. Today’s album release also signifies the launch of an extensive partnership that will see Dessner’s classical compositions released on Sony Classical while sister label Milan Records will continue to be a home for some of his celebrated soundtracks.
Of his Sony Classical debut release today, BRYCE DESSNER says, “Writing a solo piece for me is always a great challenge and joy, as you have all the personality and talent of the player plus the physicality and resonance of the solo instrument. These pieces of mine are often written like poems, where the musical language itself dictates the form and evolution of the piece and were often opportunities for me to explore more deeply my relationship to the instruments they were composed for. They also represent in each case close collaborative relationships and friendships I have been very lucky to develop with the incredible musicians who play them. Katia, Pekka, Anastasia, Nadia, Lavinia and Colin are all exceptional artists who brought so much of their amazing talent to these recordings.”
Solos was recently introduced with singles “Lullaby for Jacques et Brune,” a lullaby for piano featuring Katia Labèque that was written by Bryce Dessner for his godchildren; “Song for Ainola” performed by cellist Anastasia Kobekina and inspired by both Bach’s cello music and the Sibelius’s homestead; “Walls” performed and recorded on acoustic guitar by Bryce Dessner himself and taken from his soundtrack for Fernando Meirelles’ Oscar-nominated film “The Two Popes;” “Ornament and Crime” was recorded by close friend and collaborator violinist Pekka Kuusisto for which Dessner took inspiration from architect Adolf Loos‘s book of the same title; and from his film scoring, the main theme from “A Good Person” performed by pianist Katia Labèque. The album’s release extensive new partnership with Dessner that will see his classical compositions released on Sony Classical and select scoring titles through sister label Milan Records, creating a homebase for the composer to pursue two essential strands of his creative output.
