Sean Friar is a Rome Prize-winning composer and pianist who writes music for orchestras, wind ensembles, chamber ensembles, invented instruments, and electronics. His first musical experiences were in rock and blues piano improvisation, and his music keeps in touch with the energy and communicative directness of those musical roots along with an expansive and exploratory classical sensibility that is “refreshingly new and solidly mature… and doesn’t take on airs, but instead takes joy in the process of discovery [and] in the continual experience of suspense and surprise that good classical music has always championed.” (Slate Magazine). His music has been performed throughout the world by ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic Scharoun Ensemble, the American Composers Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, Crash Ensemble, Ensemble Klang, NOW Ensemble, Eastman Wind Ensemble, and many more. His most recent album, Before and After, was released on New Amsterdam Records to international critical acclaim, being called “heartbreaking[ly] beaut[iful]” (Gonzo Circus, Amsterdam), “beautifully crafted” (The Whole Note, Toronto), and “the existential void I want to crawl into like a hot bath on a cold night” (Van Magazine, Berlin).
“Chant” from Before and After, New Amsterdam Records.
“Bassoon Concerto” for solo bassoon and wind ensemble.
Recent & Upcoming Events
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October 2-7, 2024 – Composition Mentor in Residence, Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program Session 2, Sarasota, FL.
September 5, 2024 – Elected to Playground Ensemble’s Board of Directors.
August 18-24, 2024 – Composition Mentor in Residence, Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program Session 1, Sarasota, FL.
July 14-21, 2024 – Senior Composer in Residence, Chamber Music Conference of the East, Hamilton, NY.
July 6, 2024 – Short Winds performed at the Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, Bowdoin Music Festival, Brunswick, ME.
June 8-11, 2024 – Director, Sunset ChamberFest Young Composers Workshop, Los Angeles, CA.
June 5, 2024 – Juror for 2024 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards.
April 15-17, 2024 – Composer in Residence, College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA.
April 14, 2024 – Goodson Chapel Recital Hall, Shenandoah Conservatory, Short Winds performed by Van Buren Winds.
February 2, 2024 – Hamilton Recital Hall, University of Denver. Kuuskmann-Friar Duo perform new program of music by Sean Friar for amplified bassoon, piano, and effects pedals.
January 27, 2024 – Pomona College, Music of Californians. Ray-Kallay Duo performs Fit.
January 19, 2024 – Album Release: Shades (Ravello Records). Featuring Friar’s Shades and his piano performances on his own work and Gala Flagello’s Candlewood.
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November 21, 2023 – Corwin Concert Series, UC Santa Barbara, Inflection Points. Piano Spheres performs Fit.
November 7, 2023 – California Festival, 2220 Arts and Archives, Inflection Points, Los Angeles, CA. Piano Spheres performs Fit.
October 27-November 2, 2023 – West/Southwest performance and masterclass tour with Jeff Siegfried, saxophone: CU Boulder, University of Southern California, Cal State Long Beach, Texas Tech, and ENMU. Featuring Mezereon, Shades, Elastic Loops.
August 30-September 6, 2023 – Composition Faculty in Residence, Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program, Sarasota, FL.
July 30-August 6, 2023 – Composer in Residence, Chamber Music Conference of the East, Hamilton, NY. Performances of Short Winds and String Quartet 2.
June 17-30, 2023 – Composition Director, Lamont Summer Academy, Denver, CO.
June 10-14, 2023 – Composition Director, Sunset ChamberFest Young Composers Workshop, Los Angeles, CA.
May 30, 2023 – Zipper Hall, Los Angeles, CA, Ray-Kallay duo plays Fit.
May 9, 2023 – Roulette, New York, NY, Piano Spheres. Ray-Kallay Duo plays Fit.
May 3, 2023 – Gates Concert Hall, Newman Center, Denver, CO. Premiere of Bassoon Concerto, with Martin Kuuskmann and the DU Wind Ensemble.
April 11, 2023 – Lindhurst Theater, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA. Scale 9 performed by the Pickford Ensemble (Lincoln Hanks, Director).
March 31, 2023 – North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conference, Hattiesburg, MS. Jeff Siegfried and Sean Friar perform Mezereon and others works.
March 21-31, 2023 – Performance tour with Jeff Siegfried, saxophone: Vanderbilt, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Memphis, Appalachian State, Austin Peay. Featuring Mezereon, Shades, Two Solitudes.
Released November 2021. Get Before and After on Bandcamp, Apple Music, and Spotify here.
Before and After, album
Discography
Biography
& CV
List of Works
Audio Samples
Purchase Scores & Parts
Teaching
Performance Notifications