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.
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What do you want people to experience or feel when they engage your music?There’s no way for me to ever truly know how others experience my work. Everyone’s sensors and sensitivities are uniquely and individually tuned and in conversation with an assortment of ghosts, baggage, appetites, and resistances. Here in Germany, decades after arrival, I’m still ever orienting. Performances, reactions, and moments of quiet in between offer themselves like scattered clues from a crime scene, allowing a guess at how things might be landing. But that not-knowing, the bumbling in the dark, has shaped how I write. I choose to write with clarity not because I expect to be understood, but because I refuse to be vague. I want the music to land in the body, hit a nerve, and wake the spine upright. I’m not trying to win people over, per se; I’m trying to make something real enough that, even if it’s misunderstood, it still leaves a mark, somewhere. The music is released, wrapped in a prayer that it may soar through gaps and land—at times, powerfully—in the heart of a listener. Success is when that prayer has been answered.
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What makes your music unique?An answer lies in a straightforwardness that makes it a perfect hit on a children's concert wed to a subtly that will tickle the most snobbish connoisseur. My music shows itself in the open, not hidden behind veils of abstraction. It lunges like an animal into rhythm and sparkles physically. I want what I write to land. Not gently. To stir something. Reward the held attention with depth. A decades long process of folding line, harmony, rhythmic flair, and saucy irreverence into something personal. The eclectic tastes of jazz, eccentric modernism, pop songs, the American vernacular, and European edginess. In my music, categories are ruled meaningless—especially those of high and low, entertainment and serious. Whatever voice and personality are present in what I write have shaped themselves over years of just writing and trusting the craft.
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What values guide your work?Continuation. No note, no chord, no event really means anything without that from-here-to-there aspect, dragging or leaping or wobbling around. Continuation may pull somewhere and be only misdirection on a whim. It is shape-in-time. And time? They say it doesn’t even exist—damn! My secret obsession is harmony. Or maybe it’s line. Those are my daily obsessions, depending on the day. Whether pruning or elaborating through the continuous churning of the wheel, I wait until the harmonies release that strange, unnatural nectar I’m after. It isn’t correctness, or prettiness. It’s my own warped sense of beauty. Propulsion. The experience of movement. Drive. Continuation. Music can exist without pitch, but without rhythm? Pitch is to the angels and fairies in the heavens as rhythm is to blood and bone. I want the music to fit the body, not the machine, without pointless torture or meaningless boredom. Instead, mesmerizing puzzles for real hands, breath, and minds. I’ve never seen myself as the most gifted. Rather, much the opposite. But I know how to obscenely persist—working, listening, shaping. That’s the game I play to hit above my weight class: ever believing that the best music I’ll write is still ahead—and I’m fierce in that pursuit.
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What comes through most clearly in my music?My antennae are tuned to a lyrical current. Its energy coils, stirs meaning, sets direction in motion, and gives rise to a sense of purpose. As it takes shape, its logic builds an immense gravitational pull around which I dance. When I laugh while writing, which I often do, it’s usually because I’ve made a discovery that surprises me, something delightful that wasn’t obvious, but now feels perfectly inevitable. It’s rarely rebellion. More often, it’s a revelation that lands with elegance, stitching itself straight into the tapestry of the work. It’s that twisted little grin of an idea that gets stirred into the pot, that turns things more spicy and mischievous. If and when my music turns serious, it’s often through lyrical means—line becomes an emotive force, imparting longing, resonance, and ache. Other elements fall into its pull.
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Which composers do you love and admire, and who have most influenced your music?Adams for putting jet engines on the orchestra. Bartók for sheer individuality rooted in earth. Bernstein for a nervy masterpiece in West Side Story. Copland for making the American landscape something you can smell and taste. Debussy for showing us what freedom sounds like. Dutilleux for textures that read like braille. Bill Evans for invigorating harmony on the keys. Gershwin for more pizzazz than one would think imaginable. Holst for bringing a whole new solar system to us. Ives for truly making art as if no one was watching. Lutosławski for supreme architecture. Monk for the quirky fingers. Prokofiev for his vampiric bite. Rachmaninov for waves upon waves of warm magenta clouds of sound. Ravel for detailed brushstrokes and immortal lines. Respighi for painting with a bold color palette. Strauss for audacity and verve… and horns. And John Williams for writing tone poems smuggled into the cinema—and making every boy of my generation want to be a composer.
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What kinds of characters or stories inspire your music?A starting point for many of my works is an imagined character—quirky, unexpected, sometimes silly. From there, I become a portrait artist, making the subject’s quirks and shadows vivid through sound. By now, my gallery wall includes a nervous wreck, a chatterbox, circus performers, a criminal, corrupt politicians, lovers, dancers, jokesters, a crybaby, a flirt, and more. It’s my way of digging into human psychology and unearthing theatrical edges.
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Where does your music belong—or not belong?I’ve always been drawn to a certain kind of mismatching: a gourmet hamburger, sneakers at the Met Gala. Meaning is always contextual—the right jolt can startle us awake. Just imagine an aleatoric, avant-garde string quartet crashing a groovy drum circle. Gershwin proved long ago that sophistication and entertainment don’t stand in opposition. Some of my most satisfying pieces feel like they could squeeze into all kinds of settings—pops concert or subscription. At the new music concert, where everyone’s in sleek, stylish black, my music shows up like a tourist in a garish Hawaiian shirt, lathered in sunscreen, sneakers with mismatched socks. Awkward, but hopefully a little charming. If what’s prized is innovation through sound, with squeaks, squawks, and extended technique, then I’m bound to disappoint. More often, my music thrives in the context of a traditional classical concert, snug against the more recognizable. There, its freshness can arise and surprise, and its old, traditional bones stretch out and make themselves at home.
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