Tim Sullivan recently completed the Ph.D. program in Music Theory and Composition at the University of Michigan. He has studied composition with Bright Sheng, Betsy Jolas, William Bolcom and Karen Tanaka; he studies various aspects of music theory and compositional systems with Andrew Mead. He attended the 2006 Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, where he had lessons with Georges Aperghis, Toshio Hosokawa, and Dieter Mack, and attended masterclasses with Helmut Lachenmann and Beat Furrer.

His compositions have been performed by ALEA III, saxophonist Eliot Gattegno, pianist Marian Lee, and mezzo-soprano Lorraine Yaros Sullivan. Performances have taken place at the 2008 North American Saxophone Alliance, World Saxophone Congress XIII, the Society of Composers National Student Conference, and the University of Nebraska New Music Festival.

Publications include a paper on Ligeti’s piano music in Jonathan Bellman’s A Short Guide to Writing About Music, and two works for saxophone by Dorn Publications, Inc. He presented a paper on the music of Alfred Schnittke in November 2005 at the National Meeting of the Society for Music Theory, and participated in the first Graduate Student Workshop with Joseph Straus at the 2006 National Meeting of SMT. His theoretical work focuses primarily on recent music - in particular the music of Grisey, Dufourt, Schnittke, Ligeti, and Feldman.

Tim is the co-founder of the Re-source Ensemble, a composer’s collective based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was also the co-founder and director of the Colorado Contemporary Music Consort, as well as filling the role of conductor, pianist, and percussionist for the group from 1997 to 2002.

Also an accomplished jazz drummer, he has several recordings as a member of the Boulder Creative Music Ensemble, and has performed with Ron Miles and Bill Frisell. He currently lives with his wife, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Yaros Sullivan, and their cats and dogs in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Tim Sullivan - composer, theorist...