Derrick Skye Explained

Derrick Skye
Birth Date:1982 11, df=yes
Origin:Los Angeles
Instrument:trombone, Ewe percussion
Genre:Classical
Occupation:Composer, conductor, musician, educator
Associated Acts:Bridge to Everywhere

Derrick Skye (born Derrick Spiva Jr; 19 November 1982) is a composer, conductor, musician, and educator based in the Los Angeles area who often integrates musical practices from cultures around the world in his works. The Los Angeles Times has described Skye's music as "something to savor" and "enormous fun to listen to."[1] The Times (London) described Skye’s music as “deliciously head-spinning.”[2]

Career

Educated at University of California, Los Angeles and California Institute of the Arts, Skye studied classical music as a student of Ian Krouse, Paul Chihara, David Rosenboom and Alex Shapiro, while also studying percussion with Randy Gloss, Persian music theory with Pirayeh Pourafar, Balkan music theory with Tzvetanka Varimezova, tala in Hindustani classical music with Swapan Chaudhuri and West African music and dance with Kobla Ladzekpo, Beatrice Lawluvi, and Yeko Ladzekpo-Cole. Skye's compositional works often incorporate musical elements from different cultural traditions into contemporary classical music contexts.

His works have been performed and/or commissioned by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales,[3] Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra (Canada), Chicago Sinfonietta, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Berkeley Symphony, Orchestra Santa Monica, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Lian Ensemble, Los Angeles Electric 8,[4] [5] Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Vijay Gupta, Blake Pouliot, Superdevoiche (Bulgarian Women's Choir), EXIGENCE,[6] Los Angeles Master Chorale, Conspirare, The Cecilia Chorus of New York, Lyris Quartet, Miró Quartet, Formosa Quartet, Salastina Music Society,[7] Juventas New Music Ensemble, Ensemble Connect, and other groups.

Rhythm and the embodiment of rhythm through movement is an important theme in Skye's works; he has collaborated with choreographers such as Yeko Ladzekpo-Cole, Mariel McEwan, Sheetal Gandhi, Cynthia Ling Lee, Rukhmani Mehta and Seibi Lee of the Leela Dance Collective [8] and synchronized swimming champion and international coach Sue Baross Nesbitt.[9] He has been awarded a residency with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) through New Music USA's "Music Alive" program for LACO's 2015–2016 season[10] and has released three albums, Prisms, Cycles, Leaps (2015) and American Mirror (2018), with Orenda Records[11] and This Place (2023) with Artistician.[12] In 2021, Skye was selected by the Washington Post for the "21 for '21: Composers and performers who sound like tomorrow" article by Michael Andor Brodeur.[13] Skye was also awarded the Prince Grace Honoraria in the Theatre category for his work "Mother of Bravery" with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra[14] and "Best New Composition" in the San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards for his work "Mind the Rhythm" for violin and electronics.[15]

Skye has given talks, workshops, and pre-concert lectures about his musical practices at the Homeland Cultural Center, Skirball Cultural Center, Royce Hall (UCLA), Alex Theatre, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and various other schools and institutions. He was asked to speak at the 2016 annual League of American Orchestras conference in Baltimore on the topic of how classical music orchestras can build stronger relationships with their diverse communities.[16] In 2019, Skye was a panelist for "New Voices: Composers of Today" at the League of American Orchestras conference together with Daniel Bernard Roumain, Alex Temple, Evan Williams, Jennifer Jolley.[17] In 2023, Skye was invited to be a panelist at the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Artificial Intelligence Symposium. [18] His electroacoustic collaborative AI opera "Song of the Ambassadors" was featured in the opening ceremonies of TED (conference) 2023, in Vancouver, BC. [19]

Skye is the artistic director of the chamber ensemble and arts organization Bridge to Everywhere. He is Artistic Advisor and Composer for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.[20] He is also a part of the UpBeat Live series with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a conductor for Santa Monica Youth Orchestra, and Director of Instrumental Ensembles at Mount Saint Mary’s University. He is a member of the New Music USA Program Council and a board member of the American Composers Forum.

During the week of Juneteenth 2021, Skye formally changed his name from Derrick Spiva Jr to Derrick Senam Eugene Skye, which was featured in a Los Angeles Times article.[21] Skye is the son of Artra Howard-Brant, and nephew of Mattina Howard, Sherri Howard and Denean Howard of the Howard Sisters[22] who won gold and silver medals in track and field at the 1984 (Los Angeles) and 1988 (Seoul) Olympic games. His father, Derrick Spiva Sr, is a lecturer at San Francisco State University in Africana Studies. He is married to ethnomusicologist Kim Nguyen Tran.

List of works

Opera

Orchestra

Wind ensemble

Choral

Chamber music

String Quartet

Duets and trios

Solos

Music for choreography

Music for synchronized swimmers

Film

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rhythmically complex world premiere leads off LACO's new season. Los Angeles Times. 20 September 2015. 2016-08-25.
  2. Web site: LPO/Weilerstein review. The Times. 3 November 2022. 2022-11-06.
  3. Web site: Proms 21: Adams, Copland and Skye . 2023-09-21 . BBC Proms.
  4. Web site: 6 days 2 . Sundays Live at LACMA . 2012-11-16 . Los Angeles Electric 8 . 23 September 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130923124847/http://losangeleselectric8.com/articles/2012-07-12/sundays-live-lacma . dead .
  5. Web site: 12 August 2012 . Los Angeles Electric 8 . 2012-11-20 . Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
  6. Web site: EXIGENCE: A Vision Unfolding | Chorus America.
  7. Web site: Calendar » Salastina Music Society: 6 Los Angeles Composers ~ June 10, 2016 at 8pm. www.sequenza21.com. 2016-08-25. 20 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160920223626/http://www.sequenza21.com/calendar/2016/05/salastina-music-society-6-los-angeles-composers-june-10-2016-at-8pm/. dead.
  8. Web site: Encounters with Beauty . Leela Dance Collective. 2023-09-21.
  9. Web site: CalArts First FoCA Salon Of The Season. Los Angeles Magazine. 2011-10-14. 2016-08-25.
  10. Web site: Allan Kozinn. Pairing Composers and Orchestras, With an Eye on Younger Audiences . The New York Times. 22 October 2014 . 2014-10-30.
  11. Web site: Artists. Orenda Records. 2016-08-25.
  12. Web site: Derrick Skye: This Place. Spotify. 2023-09-21.
  13. Web site: 21 for '21: Composers and performers who sound like tomorrow . Washington Post . 17 February 2024.
  14. Web site: 2021 Prince Grace Award Winners . Princess Grace Foundation . 4 October 2021.
  15. Web site: Feher . Peter . Audience Choice Awards 2020-2021: Los Angeles Area Winners . San Francisco Classical Voice . 4 October 2021.
  16. Web site: Leveraging Creative Connections « 2016 Conference, June 9–11 2016. americanorchestras.org. 2016-08-25.
  17. Web site: Temple . Alex . Where Are the Operas About People Like Me? Imagining a Trans-Inclusive New Music World . I Care If You Listen . 4 October 2021.
  18. Web site: 19 July 2019 . 2023 ASCAP Annual Meeting & AI Symposium .
  19. Web site: 19 July 2019 . Song of the Ambassadors: Neuroscience-based AI Opera.
  20. Web site: 13 September 2018 . Derrick Spiva Jr., Appointed Laco's First Artist Educator .
  21. News: Gelt . Jessica . Essential Arts: One composer's personal reflection on Juneteenth . August 25, 2021 . Los Angeles Times . June 19, 2021.
  22. Web site: Archives.

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