Nico Muhly's Upper West Side kitchen is in the middle of an overhaul. Besides
getting his cupboards in order, the 24-year-old composer and musician is also
figuring out what's next for his career. "Do I want to devote myself to church
music or score a film and buy a Paul Smith suit?" he asks. Muhly has had a
serendipitous time ever since landing in New York to attend Columbia and
Juilliard. For the past five years he's been working for Philip Glass as an
editor; he's spent some quality time working on his own projects in Iceland too
(he makes a mean puffin stock to prove it). Muhly has collaborated with Björk in
New York, and last year he was lauded for his compositions for The Elements of
Style, a song cycle based on the renowned grammar manual. He feels most at home
with Anglican choral music (think composers Tallis and Byrd) and shows his love
for it by writing masses for Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. Amazingly, Muhly
came to music at a late age. It wasn't until he discovered a piano at age 11 "in
the nether parts" of his childhood home in Providence that he started playing.
Singing in a boy choir then inspired him to write his own music. Muhly claims he
never knows what's going on until the last minute, but so far fans can look
forward to this month's release of Speaks Volumes, an album of "chamber music
with a lot of electronics," an arrangement for Antony of Antony and the Johnsons
and an appearance at Tanglewood this summer. "The idea is to have as much going
on as possible," he says. "Maximum saturation."
Alia Akkam
Nico wears a T-shirt by Yellowgash, shirt by Paul Smith. * Hair products by Aveda.
RSS