Avery Griffin is a freelance musician working extensively in New York, New Jersey, and New England. He has had the privilege of working with a wide variety of notable artists including prestigious conductors Simon Carrington, Andrew Parrot, and Jane Glover, composers Toby Twining, Joseph Maneri, Jason Eckardt and Rinde Eckert and choreographer Mark Morris.
Most of Avery's work as a chorale musician is centered around the St. Thomas Church Choir of Men and Boys at 5th Avenue in Manhattan. The choir, under the direction of John Scott, is comprised of professional basses, tenors, and countertenors and boy sopranos from the choir school attached to the church. In addition to providing music for weekday evensong services and Sunday masses, the choir presents a vibrant and challenging annual concert series. Avery has also sung with the prestigious Trinity Wall Street Choir of downtown Manhattan and has participated in several distinguished concert series and festivals including the Spoleto USA and Mostly Mozart Festivals in the United States and the Golden Mask Festival in Moscow, Russia. Avery spends July in California where he takes part in the Carmel Bach Festival as a member of the Festival Chorale.
In addition to his work in early and common practice repertoire Avery has extensive performance experience with new music ranging from the work of IRCAM veterans Pascale Criton and Ketty Nez to the neo-romantic aesthetic of Martin Amlin and Judd Greenstein, to the kaleidoscopic sonic world of William Brittelle. Avery has premiered several works written specifically for him by composers that include Boston-based great Ezra Sims. A composer himself, Avery's output includes several song sets, electroacoustic etudes, a piano sonata, and numerous choral works which have been premiered by ensembles including the Boston University Chamber Chorus and the Trinity Wall Street Choir.
Avery is a charter member of two exciting new music ensembles. The first is NotaRiotous, the chamber ensemble of the Boston Microtonal Society, which specializes in the research and performance of music utilizing tuning systems outside the standard twelve-note system of the Western classical repertoire. The second is Roomful of Teeth, an eight-member vocal ensemble that seeks to build a new repertoire through incorporating non-classical singing techniques such as yodeling and belting into an ever-growing body of commissioned works.
As an educator Avery held the post of “Theory and History Coordinator” at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, a Summer program for musically gifted high school students, from the Summers of 2008 to 2010. His duties included structuring curriculum, teaching beginning and advanced theory and history courses, and lecturing to the young composers of the program on the art of writing for the voice. Avery is also a teaching assistant in the Songcatchers Composers of the Future program in New Rochelle, NY, where he coaches very young composers between the ages of eight and fourteen on how to write for various instruments and assists them in a composition process that culminates with a performance of the classes' work by the Westchester Chamber Symphony.
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