Michael D. Fiday

Described as “clearly structured, colorful and unflaggingly compelling work” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and “a precise appeal to an inner ear beyond the mind” (Gramophone Magazine), the music of Professor Michael Fiday is known for its expressive directness, inventive sound world, gradually unfolding dramatic narratives, and distinctive rhythmic energy.
 
His work has been commissioned and performed internationally by a broad range of renowned performers spanning the worlds of classical and contemporary music, including Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica de Guanajuato, Percussion Ensemble of The Hague, Mantra Percussion, Percussion Group Cincinnati, Duo Damiana (flutist Molly Barth, guitarist Dieter Hennings), pianists Marc-Andre Hamelin and James Tocco, violinists Carla Kihlstedt and Graeme Jennings, and electric guitarists Seth Josel, Derek Johnson and Taylor Levine.
 
Mr. Fiday has also been granted commissions from the Fromm Foundation, Barlow Foundation, National Flute Association, and American Composers Forum, and has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, ASCAP, the Institute of International Education, and three Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council. He has been awarded numerous residencies at distinguished artist colonies such as The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Copland House, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Headlands Center for the Arts, and has served as Composer-in-Residence at Charlotte New Music Festival and the Musikhochschule Münster in Muenster, Germany, where he helped curate a two-week festival devoted to his own music.
 
Michael Fiday holds a Ph.D. and M.A. degree from University of Pennsylvania, where he studied music composition, and a B.M. from University of Colorado, where he studied composition, violin and philosophy. His principal teachers in composition have included Richard Toensing at University of Colorado, George Crumb at University of Pennsylvania, and Louis Andriessen, with whom he studied in Amsterdam under the auspices of a Fulbright Grant. He currently holds the position of Professor of Composition at the College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati, where he has taught since 2002.
 
Website: https://michaelfiday.net/

BM: University of Colorado Boulder, CO,

MA and PhD: University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA,

02-2024 American Academy of Arts and Letters: Music Award

11-2017 Fromm Music Foundation, Harvard University: commission for new work for Mantra Percussion

08-2017 Barlow Foundation: General Commission for new work for Hypercube ensemble

05-2015 -06-2015 Composer in Residence: Musikhochschule Münster, Muenster, Germany

2006 -2022 Ohio Arts Council: Individual Excellence Award Awarded 2022, 2018, 2010, and 2006

12-2018 Copland House: awarded residency for December 2018

06-2007 -09-2007 Headlands Center for the Arts: awarded residency for summer 2007

1996 American Composers Forum: 1996 Composers Commissioning Project

09-1992 -08-1993 Institute of International Education: J. William Fulbright Grant awarded for post-doctoral studies in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1992-93

1992 ASCAP - Raymond Hubbell Music Scholarship Prize: awarded to The Delicate Prey, 1992

1987 -2018 MacDowell Colony: awarded residencies for summer 2018, fall 2009, winter 1998, summer 1991, fall 1987

1988 -2006 Yaddo: awarded residencies for winter 2006, summer 1988

1988 -2010 Virginia Center for the Creative Arts: awarded residencies for winter 2010, fall 1998, spring 1988

1988 ASCAP Foundation Grants to Young Composers: awarded to ...y el ave lucida... for soprano and nine instruments, 1988

1985 -1986 BMI Awards to Student Composers: awarded to Night Canticle from Concerto for Chamber Players, 1986, and to Toccata from Concerto for Chamber Players, 1985