T. J. Borden

Hailed for his “technically polished playing” (Jan Jezioro, Artvoice) as well as his “astounding performances of superlatively difficult modernist solo works” (Edge of the Center), Tyler J. Borden is a rising force in the contemporary music landscape. A dedicated purveyor of modern music, Tyler has performed with many contemporary music luminaries such as the JACK Quartet, the Theater of Eternal Music Brass and String Band, the Slee Sinfonietta, Ensemble Offspring (Australia), and Tony Conrad. He has performed at the Soundways New Music Festival (St. Petersburg, Russia), June in Buffalo, the New Media Art and Sound Summit (Austin TX), and he has been a participant at the Lucerne Festival Academy and the Darmstadt Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik. His performance of Witold Lutoslawski’s “Cello Concerto” with the University at Buffalo Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Bassin was praised for how he “mastered the works intricacies with elegant grace” (Artvoice). Currently, Tyler is a member of the [Switch~ Ensemble], a group dedicated to the performance of works that incorporate multimedia elements into live performance. He is also the most recent addition to Mivos Quartet, a group distinguished by their vibrant interpretations of the works of contemporary composers.

Tyler is particularly committed to working directly with composers, and as such he has worked with established figures such as Brian Ferneyhough, Catherine Lamb, Josh Levine, Alvin Lucier, and La Monte Young. He is particularly interested in the music of his generation and has worked extensively with many emerging composers, such as Wojtek Blecharz, Timothy McCormack, Fernanda Navarro, Lena Nietfeld, and Matt Sargent. He is also an regular improviser, having performed in that capacity throughout North America and Europe, and his improvisations are included in Guggenheim Fellow Kasumi’s film “Shockwaves”.

Tyler received his BM at Ithaca College, where he studied with Elizabeth Simkin and Heidi Hoffman and he received his MM at the University at Buffalo, where he studied with Jonathan Golove. Currently, he is working towards his DMA at UC San Diego with Charles Curtis.