Keir GoGwilt
Keir GoGwilt is a violinist, composer, and musicologist who was born in Edinburgh and grew up in New York City. His work combines historical research and collaborative experimentation. As a violinist he has been described as a "formidable performer" (New York Times) with an "evocative sound" (London Jazz News) and "finger-busting virtuosity" (San Diego Union Tribune). In past seasons he has soloed with groups including the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Chinese National Symphony, Orquesta Filarmonica de Santiago, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and the La Jolla Symphony. A founding member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), he has performed original, collaboratively-devised music, dance, and theater works at 92NY, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Luminato Festival, PS 122 COIL, Stanford Live, American Repertory Theater, Carolina Performing Arts, Momentary, Monday Evening Concerts, and the Ojai Music Festival.
Current projects include the "Zarabanda Variations": a co-authored collection of songs and dances reflecting Baroque histories and futurisms of New Spain, a forthcoming album of Scottish dance music from the Niel Gow collections with Ruckus Early Music, and a modular series of pieces exploring counterpoint and tuning called "A Treatise on Limited Freedoms," which he is exploring as part of his two year residency with the JACK quartet. Recent past projects include creating and performing a stage role for Bobbi Jene Smith's "Marie & Pierre," with original music by Celeste Oram at Theater Basel. His duo with bassist Kyle Motl features their original compositions and has been noted for its "rhapsodic gestures" (The New Yorker) and "keen musical intellects" (The Wire). His compositions with violinist Johnny Chang have been praised for their "patience, poise, and consummate balance" (Night After Night) and "mystical ecstasy" (Esoteros).
As a violinist he has worked closely with composers including Matthew Aucoin, Carolyn Chen, Tan Dun, Malcolm Goldstein, Tobias Picker, and Celeste Oram, appearing on records put out by Another Timbre, Tzadik, Clean Feed, 577 Records, and BMOP. He has also worked extensively with bassist Mark Dresser, percussionist/conductor Steve Schick, and choreographer/dancer Bobbi Jene Smith.
GoGwilt earned his PhD in Music from UC San Diego in 2022, where he was advised by Amy Cimini and Anthony Burr, and was awarded the Chancellor's Dissertation Medal for the Division of Arts & Humanities. His research on histories and philosophies of performance, pedagogy, and embodiment has been published in the Bach Journal, Current Musicology, Naxos Musicology, and the Orpheus Institute Series.
photo by Peter Gannushkin