Devin Maxwell
Associate Instructor, Composition
PhD University of Utah
MFA California Institute of the Arts
BM University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
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Biography
Devin Maxwell is a composer, percussionist, and music technology entrepreneur. His chamber music has been described as “amiably strident…clusters hammered insistently” by the New York Times and orchestral works “a beautiful puzzle, … fitting between plucks and pedals that build pyramid melodies” by the American Record Guide. As a composer, he has recently been commissioned by the Utah Arts Festival (SLC), Sinfonia Salt Lake (SLC), mmm… (Tokyo), Bent Frequency (Atlanta), Ensemble Dedalus (France), the Deer Valley Music Festival Emerging Quartets and Composers for the Skyros Quartet (Seattle) and featured at The Stone (NYC), Abron’s Art Center (NYC), MOXsonic (MO), the Ontological Theater (NYC), BLIM (Vancouver), ARTSaha (Omaha), the Wulf (Los Angeles), Monkeytown (NYC), Dartmouth College, NYU, Columbia University, Kenyon College, Boston Conservatory, Tage Aktueller Music (Germany), SEAMUS, ICMC-SMC (Greece), Ostrava Days (Czech Republic), among others.
Awards for composition include the Nief-Norf Composition Prize, the Leroy Robertson Prize, “Best Experimental Film” New York Independent Film Festival, New Music USA/Commissioning Music USA and an Honorable Mention at the American Composer’s Orchestra 2013 Underwood Readings. His creative work is critically examined in the book Boring, Formless Nonsense; Experimental Music and the Aesthetics of Failure by Eldritch Priest, and the 2012 journal Postmodern Culture. Maxwell has collaborated with poet Craig Dworkin (SLC), the Rosco String Quartet (SLC), the Tribeca Ensemble (SLC), choreographer Jessica Gaynor Dance (NYC), filmmaker Rollin Hunt (Los Angeles), graphic designer Phillip Niemeyer (Austin), photographer Svavar Jónatansson (Iceland), clarinetist Katie Porter, and violist/songwriter Anni Rossi (NYC).
As a percussionist, Maxwell’s eclectic output includes performing in venues and festivals including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Columbia University, SOUND at the Schindler House, LA Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella Series, Roulette, Issue Project Room, St Marks Theater (NYC), The Armory, The Sun Tunnels, The Kitchen, Joe’s Pub, Monolith, Mercury Lounge, South by Southwest, String Theory, CMJ and The Stone, among others. He has performed with So Percussion, the Ostravska New Orchestra, the Dither Quartet, and WildUp.
Commercially, he has recorded with record labels including 4AD, Polyvinyl, Parlophone, Cantaloupe Records, and Mode and can be heard on music for TV, film, and video games including Grand Theft Auto IV, The Independent Film Channel, Grey’s Anatomy, and BBC.
In addition to composing and performing, Maxwell co-founded the LoudLouderLoudest Music Production Company in Brooklyn, NY, and was responsible for many firsts in wireless music and mobile game sound for clients such as Sony, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Atlantic Records, HBO and Disney. While in New York, he also co-founded Listen/Space, a venue for new music which now exists as a music commissioning organization located in Park City, Utah. He is also the founder of the VU Symposium for Experimental, Electronic and Improvised Music in Park City, founder and director of the Utah Youth Orchestras and Ensemble’s Young Composers Project.
Maxwell is a graduate of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, California Institute of the Arts, and the University of Utah School of Music. His creative work is published by Good Child Music New York and Éditions musique SISYPHE.