An American whose music has been characterized by “propulsive, syncopated rhythms, colorful orchestration, and instrumental virtuosity,” (Robert Kirzinger, BSO) Miami-Based Composer Kevin Day (b. 1996) has quickly emerged as one of the leading young voices in the world of music composition today, whose music ranges from powerfully introspective to joyous exuberance. Day was born in Charleston, West Virginia and is a native of Arlington, Texas. His father was a prominent hip-hop producer in the late-1980s to early 90s in Southern California, and his mother was a sought-after gospel singer from West Virginia, singing alongside the likes of Mel Torme and Kirk Franklin. Kevin Day is an internationally acclaimed composer, conductor, and pianist, whose music often intersects between the worlds of jazz, minimalism, Latin music, fusion, and contemporary classical idioms.
A winner of the BMI Student Composer Award and many other honors, Day has composed over 200 works, and has had numerous performances throughout the United States, Russia, Austria, Australia, Taiwan, South Africa, and Japan. His works have been programmed by major orchestras and wind bands, including the Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, the UT Wind Ensemble, several top military bands, and more. His works have also been performed at Carnegie Hall, Rachmaninov Hall (Russia), The Midwest Clinic, TMEA, and other major venues. Day has collaborated with the likes of David Childs, Nicki Roman, James Markey, Wendy Richman, Jens Lindemann, Demondrae Thurman, Hiram Diaz, Steven Cohen, Jeremy Lewis, and more on works for their respective instruments, as well as chamber ensembles like ONE FOUND SOUND, Axiom Brass, Ensemble Dal Niente, The Sheffield Chamber Players, The Puerto Rican Trombone Ensemble, The Zenith Saxophone Quartet, The Tesla Quartet, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra Low Brass Section. He has been mentored by composers Gabriela Lena Frank, Frank Ticheli, John Mackey, William Owens, Julie Giroux, Marcos Balter, Anthony Cheung, Matthew Evan Taylor, and Valerie Coleman.
Day is currently earning his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Composition at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, and is a recipient of the UMiami Graduate School Dean’s Fellowship. He currently studies composition with Lansing McLoskey, Charles Norman Mason, and Dorothy Hindman, as well as jazz piano with Shelly Berg and Martin Bejeramo. Day holds a Master of Music in Composition Degree from the University of Georgia, where he studied with Peter Van Zandt Lane, Emily Koh, and Cynthia Johnston Turner. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance from Texas Christian University (TCU), where he studied with Richard Murrow, Till Meyn, Blaise Ferrandino, and Neil Anderson-Himmelspach. His works are published with Murphy Music Press, Dev Music Publishing, Cimarron Music, M&M Music Press, and Kevin Day Music. Day currently serves as the Vice President for the Millennium Composers Initiative and is an alumnus of Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
