Artist Detail

Steve Layton

Composer - Musician

About the artist: Born 1956 in Pasco, Washington.

B.A. -- The Evergreen State College, Olympia (w/ Greg Steinke, William Winden, Barney Childs, Morton Subotnick, Gordon Mumma).

M.Mus. -- The University of Idaho, Moscow (Greg Steinke, William Billingsley, Barney Childs, Pauline Oliveros).

Came to Seattle in 1983; began a string of concert appearances at On the Boards, Soundwork, 911, New Music America, Bumbershoot and Nippon Kan, often collaborating with dancers and videographers. Commissions from various western-states ensembles and organizations.

Essentially stopped live performances in 1990, spending the time from then to now exploring both electronic and "virtual orchestral" composition, as well as new ways the internet can facilitate distribution, networking, and concertizing of new music for the independent musician. Layton's music is heard worldwide, and his CDs are distributed on the NiwoSound label. He also contributes and helps manage content at such music sites as Sequenza21 and NetNewMusic.

Moved to Houston in 2007.

In Layton's work, traditional and "imaginary" modern classical mix it up with electronic, historical, and world vernacular influences. His music operates on a number of different levels at once, making an often dense, but rich and colorful music.

"Traditional" and "avant-garde", "possible" and "impossible" music? To Layton, each piece reinvents a World. What some might see as eclecticism, he sees as the eternal "now"; that each person is a kind of vortex moving through all that ever was, reaching through time, place and culture to shape their own particular moment.