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I compose out of an innate need to create—without which I feel incomplete. When it’s working, I fall into a kind of absorption that erases time. It just happens when the material moves from bland to invigorating. Then I’m holding on to the tiger’s tail for as long as I can. And in this way, a cyclic process unfolds.

 

Give me a line that curves and bites, a harmony that blossoms into nirvana, a rhythm that infects the toes. These are my bread and butter—the components I follow into the abyss.

I care about a type of clarity that undergirds meaningful complexity, allowing it to breathe, ferment, and become rapturous. But for every extravagance, there lies a simple strut offering basic support.

 

I steal like anyone worth their salt. The composers I love—I’ll steal their tricks in the light of day, retooling what I find within the bounds of my own pronunciation, my own way of speaking through music. I’m not interested in style for its own sake—though I think, by now, I have one. What I want is to offer a rapturous journey of the imagination that’s uniquely personal. I’ll go with it instinctually when it feels immediate and irresistible. Sometimes that means flirting with the theatrical or throwing an elbow. Whatever the muse demands.

 

When I’m not writing, something’s off. I get restless, and then I have to get back to it. If a listener feels even a fraction of what I’ve experienced during the creative process—some tilt in the heart, some recognition, a smirk—then I’m pleased.

Short Bio

Kevin Beavers (b. 1971, Medellín, Colombia) spent his early years in Keyser, West Virginia, a small town along the Potomac River in Appalachia. He holds degrees from West Virginia University (BM) and the University of Michigan (MM and DMA) and has studied at the Tanglewood Music Festival and in Amsterdam (Fulbright). His teachers have included William Albright, Leslie Bassett, John Beall, William Bolcom, Evan Chambers, and Theo Loevendie.

Beavers has taught composition and theory at the Interlochen Arts Camp, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Colorado Boulder. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Centennial Composition Competition and the ASCAP Rudolph Nissim Prize, as well as commissions from major orchestras and chamber music organisations. His three-year residency with the California Symphony included multiple premieres of his orchestral works. His compositions span a wide range of orchestral, band, chamber, and vocal music.

Based in Düsseldorf, Germany, Beavers has collaborated extensively with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, who have commissioned and premiered several of his works, including Symphonic Transformations (2016) and Circus Troupe (2022). His music was recently featured on the ARUNDOSquintett’s 2024 album Saga (Audite). Additionally, Beavers is an experienced yoga teacher and practitioner.

Principal Teachers

William Albright, Leslie Bassett, John Beall, William Bolcom, Evan Chambers, Theo Loevendie, Bernard Rands
Lawrence Christianson, conducting; John Winkler, trumpet

Commissions

2022

ARUNDOSquintett

2022

Tonhalle Düsseldorf, (for three works: Circus Troupe, Portraits for orchestra, and Tipsy)

2017

Trio Mallarmé

2017

Tonhalle Düsseldorf, (Dice Game)

2014

Tonhalle Düsseldorf, (Portraits for chamber ensemble)

2014

Canta Nova Saar for a new work for choir and solo clarinet

2014

Octet for members of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker

2011

The Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music

2009

The Motor City Brass Quintet

2009

Sinfonia Concertante Bremen, (for Long Ways From Home)

2008

Sinfonia Concertante Bremen, (for Song of Mourning)

2006-2007

The Netherland-America Foundation, a concerto for violin and orchestra for Colin Jacobson

2004-2005

Four commissions, The Albany Symphony (NY)

2003-2006

Four commissions for new works from the California Symphony

2002

The Santa Barbara Symphony

2002

The Albany Symphony, “Dogs of Desire” Ensemble

2001-2002

The Boston Conservatory, a concerto for marimbist, Nanae Mimura

2000

Wilma Wever, for voice and piano, with Weill Hall and Concertgebouw Kleine Zaal debuts

2000

Detroit Civic Orchestra

1998–99

Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music for a work for the Cassatt String Quartet and mezzo–soprano Stephanie Houtzeel

1997

University of Michigan Symphony Band, with Carnegie Hall debut

1997

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Paul Jacobs Commission, for large orchestra

1997

New York Youth Symphony, for orchestra, with Carnegie Hall debut

1996

Everett Foundation, for cello and piano

Grants, Awards, Honors and Scholarships

2000

First Prize, The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Centennial Composition Competition, for a cash prize, three performances at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia and a performance in Carnegie Hall

2003-2005

Appointed composer in residence of the California Symphony as part of the orchestra’s Young American Composer Residency program. The three-year residency included three commissions plus other performances and duties

2001

First Prize, ASCAP Rudolph Nissim Competition

2001

First Prize, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra Guild Composition Competition

2001

Commissioning Award, Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst

1999

National Endowment for the Arts, Commissioning Grant

1999-2000

Netherlands–America Foundation Grant (now Fulbright), for one year of post-graduate study in the Netherlands

1997

First Prize, Lee Ettelson Prize, Composers Inc.

1995-1998

Four ASCAP/Morton Gould Awards to Young Composers

1997

New York Youth Symphony, First Music 14 Commissioning Award

1996

American Academy of Arts and Letters, Charles Ives Scholarship

1996

Tanglewood Music Center Fellowship, (sponsored by the Aaron Copland Fund)

2002 and 2004

Publications with Oxford University Press, NY

1995, 2000 and 2004

Three MacDowell Artist Colony Residencies

1994–1996 / 1996–1999

Two Regents Fellowships (tuition and stipend) from the University of Michigan, MM, DMA

Numerous ASCAP Standard Awards (given to members of ASCAP)

Conducting Experience. Three years of conducting training with Lawrence Christianson.  Experience with orchestral, band, youth group, and new music ensemble conducting.

Profesional CD recordings

2024

Quintet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon on the album Saga recorded by the ARUNDOSquintett. Audite

2023

Ballerina for Flute, Viola, and Harp recorded for the album Motion by Trio Mallarmé

2009

Sonata for Violin and Piano, Scott Conklin, violin; Alan Huckelberry, piano. Albany Records

2007

Sourpuss for solo piano, Nicola Melville. Innova Recordings

2001

Nocturne Fantasy (for flute, harp, and string orchestra) recorded by Catherine DeJongh, flute; Bohdan Jarmolowicz, conductor; The Polish National Chamber Orchestra, for the Centaur label

1996

Shadowplays recorded by Timothy McAllister (saxophone) and the U of M Percussion Ensemble on the Equilibrium label, CD titled Imaginary Landscape: Percussion Music

Notable Performances

The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, the Saint Louis Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Santa Barbara Symphony, the California Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, the Polish National Chamber Orchestra, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, the Albany Symphony, the Sinfonia Concertante Bremen, the New York Youth Symphony, numerous university orchestras, the Detroit Civic Orchestra, the National Symphonies of Guatemala and Ecuador, Four Carnegie Hall premieres, Weill Hall, The Jupiter String Quartet, the Cassatt String Quartet, Trio Mallarmé, ARUNDOSquintett, the Tanglewood Music Festival, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the University of Michigan Symphony Band, Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Composers Inc. (with Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony), Canta Nova Saar, Detmold Conservatory (Germany), Tokyo, Japan.

Significant Employment

2013-present

RUBINSTEIN AKADEMIE, Düsseldorf, Germany, Professor of Composition. Instructing composition and theory students in private lessons.

2012

COLORADO UNIVERSITY, Boulder, Colorado, Visiting Lecturer. Instructed composition students in private lessons.  Taught classes in instrumentation and advanced orchestration (for graduate level composition students), and composition seminar.

2001-2003

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, Austin, Texas. Visiting Lecturer and Visiting Director of the New Music Ensemble Instructed composition students in private lessons.  Taught classes in 20th-century music, instrumentation and orchestration.  Administered and conduct the New Music Ensemble (2002-03)

1998-2000

INTERLOCHEN ARTS CAMP, Interlochen, Michigan. Theory/Composition Faculty. Classroom instructor for basic and advanced theory classes as well as composition classes.  Private instructor for studies in composition.

1997-1999

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Composition Instructor. Instructor for composition course for both graduate and undergraduate students. Also, teaching assistant composition course.  Responsibilities including private instruction as well as classroom teaching.

1995-1996

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Aural Skills Instructor. Instructor for sophomore classes on dictation and sight-singing of tonal music.  Responsibilities included classroom teaching and grading.

Non Musical Interests and Activities

Yoga practitioner and instructor. Chess enthusiast

Education

2000

Doctor of Musical Arts, Composition, University of Michigan

1996

Master of Music, Composition, University of Michigan

1994

Bachelor of Music, Composition, West Virginia University, Magna Cum Laude

Kevin Beavers

Contact

Tußmannstr. 3
40477 Düsseldorf

+49 211 2298 9620
kbeavers[at]gmail.com

© 2024 Kevin Beavers. All rights reserved

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