Michael Harrison

Michael Harrison (October 24, 1958 – April 17, 2026) was an American contemporary classical music composer and pianist who lived in New York City.

Early years Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Harrison grew up in Eugene, Oregon, where his father, David Kent Harrison was a professor of mathematics at the University of Oregon and a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1963–1964. As a child and teenager, he spent summers in both Chatham and Concord, Massachusetts, with his grandfather, George R. Harrison, a professor of experimental physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1930), and Dean of Science (1942–64). He graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.M. in Composition, where he later received the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award, and then moved to New York City to study with La Monte Young through a Dia Art Foundation Apprenticeship-in Residency. He later received an M.M. in composition from the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Reiko Fueting.

Career In 1986, Harrison designed and produced the "harmonic piano", an extensively modified grand piano with the ability to play 24 notes per octave. Critic Kyle Gann referred to it as "an indisputable landmark in the history of Western tuning". The instrument is described in the second edition of the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments.

Harrison had been a serious student of Indian music, first as a disciple of master Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath (1979–1996), and then a protégé of Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan (1999–2026). He was also the co-founder and president of the American Academy of Indian Classical Music (AAICM).

Harrison was a protege of minimalist composer, La Monte Young, serving as Young's exclusive tuner for The Well Tuned Piano, a semi-improvised several hour long piano piece, learning the piece by sitting at the piano with Young every time he played it. He became the only person to ever play the piece other than the composer.

Later life and death Harrison died on April 17, 2026, at the age of 67.

Academic appointments Harrison had been on faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design, Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Program, and the Bang on a Can Summer Institute at MASS MoCA. He was music director at Arts, Letters & Numbers. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 2018–2019.

Discography

2026 Evening Light: Raga Cycle I (Cantaloupe Music 21221) 2022 Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison, and John Also Bennett (Séance Centre, 2LP) 2021 Seven Sacred Names (Cantaloupe Music 21157) 2020 Just Constellations, Roomful of Teeth (New Amsterdam Records) 2018 For this from that will be filled, Clarice Jensen (Miasmah Recordings 041) 2017 Histories, Sophia Subbayya Vastek (Innova Recordings 974) 2016 Harmonic Constellations, Mari Kimura (New World Records 80776–2) 2012 Time Loops with cellist Maya Beiser (Cantaloupe Music 21086) 2012 Rumi: Lovedrunk (remastered) 2009 The Harmonic Series – A Compilation of Works in Just Intonation (Important Records 272) 2007 Revelation: Music in Pure Intonation (Cantaloupe Music 21043) 2001 Windham Hill 25 Years of Piano (Windham Hill Records) 1992 From Ancient Worlds (New Albion Records 042) 1987 In Flight (Fortuna Records 17042–2) 1985 Windham Hill Records Piano Sampler (WH 1040)

Compositions Passage Installation with nine hours of music in 6-channel surround sound, composed and recorded with Elliot Cole, Ina Filip, Benoit Rolland, and lighting by Nina Elder, commissioned by Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Boone, NC, 2023 A New Well commissioned and premiered by Young People's Chorus of New York City, Francisco Núñez, director, 2021 Time Cycles commissioned and premiered by Alarm Will Sound, Alan Pierson, conductor, Sheldon Hall, St. Louis, MO, 2019 Mureed for string quartet (commissioned and premiered by Del Sol Quartet, Pacific Pythagorean Music Festival), 2019 Tone Rooms installation with media artist Jonathan Turner, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, 2019 Constitution, versions for string quartet, cello and piano, violin and piano, clarinet and piano, and solo piano (premiere: Bechtler Museum of Modern Art), 2019 Just Ancient Loops (cello octet) commissioned and premiered by Cello Octet Amsterdam, Singelkerk, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2018 Cello Constellations for cello with 21 pre-recorded cello tracks and electronics (commissioned and premiered by Clarice Jensen, The Kitchen), 2017 Bairagi Bhairav for just intonation piano, Indian vocals, tabla, and optional tanpura (premiere: Carnegie Hill Concerts, Church of Advent Hope), 2017 Harmonic Constellations for violin with 13 pre-recorded violin tracks and electronics (commissioned and premiered by Mari Kimura, National Sawdust), 2016 Chorale (from Just Ancient Loops) for string orchestra (premiere: String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Roulette), 2016 Malkauns: Polyphonic Alap for Indian vocalist and pre-recorded media (commissioned by Payton MacDonald for the Sonic Divide Project and Film), 2016 Hijaz Prelude for piano with optional tabla and tanpura (premiere: Sophia Vastek, Nitin Mitta and Michael Harrison, Queens New Music Festival), 2016 Kind of Glass for piano (premiere: Michael Harrison, Queens New Music Festival), 2016 Tarana for male Indian vocalist, soprano, piano, tabla and optional tanpura, 2016 Just Constellations for vocal octet (commissioned and premiered by Roomful of Teeth at MASS MoCA), 2015, revised 2016 Radians Phase II for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and electronics (premiere: Third Sound, Havana Contemporary Music Festival), 2015 Orchestral Modules for symphony orchestra (premiere: Manhattan School of Music Composers Orchestra), 2015 Radians Phase for string quartet, two flutes and electronics (premiere: Tactus, Manhattan School of Music), 2015 Jaunpuri (Rendition of a Raga) for piano, Indian vocals, tabla and tamboura (premiere: Kimball Gallagher, Mashkoor Ali Khan, Anirban Chowdhury, Michael Harrison; Carnegie Hall), 2015; version for cello, piano and tabla, 2014 Yaman Alap for vocal octet (commissioned by Roomful of Teeth, (premiere: MASS MoCA), 2014 Yaman Tarana for vocal octet (commissioned by Roomful of Teeth, (premiere: MASS MoCA), 2014 Tessellations for chamber orchestra, countertenor, tenor, tabla and tamboura (premiere: Contemporaneous, Park Avenue Christian Church, NYC), 2014 Orchestral Modules for chamber orchestra (premiere: Contemporaneous, Park Avenue Christian Church, NYC), 2014 Piano Modules for duo piano (premiere: Allison Franzetti & Benita Meshulam) 2014; version for solo piano, 2012 Harmonic Studies in Just Intonation for computer generated sine tones, 2014 Raga Prelude No. 2 (Hijaz Bhairav) for cello and guitar (premiere: Ashley Bathgate and Mak Grgic), 2014; version for cello and piano (premiere: Maya Beiser and Michael Harrison, Atlas Center for Performing Arts), 2013 Hijaz for SATB chorus, cello, piano, tabla & percussion (commissioned by Francisco Núñez, premiere: American Choral Director's Association Director's Choir, Florida Theatre), 2013 Revelation Remix for electronics with prepared piano in just intonation, 2013 Bhimpalasi (Rendition of a Raga) for Indian vocals, just intonation piano, cello, vibes, and tabla, 2013 Just Ancient Loops for multi-track cellos with film by Bill Morrison (commissioned by MELA Foundation, premiere: Maya Beiser, Bang on a Can Marathon), 2012 Chant for string quartet (premiere: JACK Quartet, Metropolitan Museum of Art), 2012 Bragdon's Pavillion – multi media installation with artist Loris Greaud, Centre Pompidou, 2011 Raga Prelude No. 1 (Yaman Kalyan) for cello and piano (premiere: Maya Beiser and Michael Harrison, Atlas Center for Performing Arts); versions for violin and piano; viola and piano, 2011 Hijaz for youth or women's chorus, cello, piano, tabla & percussion (commissioned by Young People's Chorus of New York City, Francisco Núñez, director; premiere: Maya Beiser, Michael Harrison, Payton MacDonald; Kaufmann Concert Hall), 2011 Tone Clouds for string quartet and just intonation piano (Revelation tuning) (premiere: Del Sol Quartet and Michael Harrison, Other Minds Festival), 2009 Revelation: Music in Pure Intonation for just intonation piano (Revelation tuning) (premiere: Michael Harrison, Klavier-Festival Ruhr), completed 2007 Wedding Song for voice and piano (premiere: Theo Bleckmann and Joshua Pierce), 2004 From Ancient Worlds for just intonation piano ("From Ancient Worlds" tuning) (premiere: Michael Harrison, Quattro Pianoforti Festival, Rome), 1992, revised 1999 Blue Camel for piano (premiere: Michael Harrison, Quattro Pianoforti Festival, Rome), 1999 For My Father for flute, violin, cello and piano, 1994 Song of the Rose for cello and piano, 1993 Symphonic Cortege for symphony orchestra (premiere: Eugene Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor), 1990 Birds of Paradise for jazz ensemble, 1990 1001 Nights for jazz ensemble, 1990 African Child for world music ensemble, 1988 Tactus for trumpet, piano and percussion, 1984–85 In Flight for piano, 1984 The Swan Has Flown to the Mountain Lake for flute, harp and cello, 1984; version for piano, 1983 Ecstatic poems of Rumi for soprano and piano, 1983–84 For Oboe for oboe, 1983 Reminiscent Dances for string Orchestra, 1982 Choral Work No. 1 for vocal quintet, 1981 Choral Work No. 2 for vocal quintet, 1981 Crystal Kyrie for two sopranos and 13 tuned crystal goblets (premiere: American Festival of Microtonal Music), 1979 Zikr for SATB chorus with soprano soloist, 1979 Atlantis for flute, clarinet, piano and tabla, 1979 Call of the Beloved for soprano, flute, harp and piano, 1979 Dance of the Sorcerers for flute, cello, piano, tabla and tamboura, 1978 Sonnet XVIII for alto and piano, 1977