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Born in Colfax, California, Riley studied at Shasta College, San Francisco State University, and the San Francisco Conservatory before earning an MA in composition at the University of California, Berkeley, studying with Seymour Shifrin and Robert Erickson. At UC Berkeley, he met La Monte Young; together they worked with the dancer Anna Halprin. During a sojourn to Europe 1962-64, he collaborated with members of the Fluxus group, playwright Ken Dewey, and trumpeter Chet Baker, and was involved in street theater and happenings. In 1965 he moved to New York and joined La Monte Young’s "Theater of Eternal Music." 1967 was the year of his first all-night concert at the Philadelphia College of Art and he began a collaboration with visual artist Robert Benson. An influential teacher was Pandit Pran Nath, a master of Indian classical voice; Riley appeared in concert with him as tampura, tabla and vocal accompanist for over 25 years. Riley continues to perform in concerts of his music and of Indian classical music, as well as conducting raga-singing seminars. He also appears in concerts with Indian sitarist Krishna Bhatt, saxophonist George Brooks, guitarist Gyan Riley and with virtuoso Italian bassist, Stefano Scodanibbio.
Riley joined the Mills College faculty in 1971. There he met David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet. Their long association led to 13 string quartets, the concerto The Sands (1990), the multimedia choral work commissioned by NASA, Sun Rings (2003), and The Cusp of Magic (2004) with pipa. The Kronos recording of his epic five-quartet cycle, Salome Dances for Peace was selected as the Classical album of the year by "USA Today" and was nominated for a Grammy |