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Biography
Garry Eister is a Grammy-nominated composer/performer whose broad range of musical experience includes work in many genres and in many areas of musical endeavor. While primarily a composer of concert music in the classical tradition, Eister has also made music for theater, radio, and movies. His music has been performed by an impressive roster of artists including-
The Emerson String Quartet
Kent Nagano
The Cleveland Chamber Symphony
The Cottbuss State Theatre Philhamonic Orchestra under the direction of Ivo Henschel
The San Francisco Guitar Quartet
Verophonist Philipp Alexander Marguerre
The Glass Duo
Daniel Lentz's ensembles
The San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival Orchestra under the direction of Clif Swanson
The San Luis Obispo Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michael Nowak
Just Strings
The frets ENSEMBLE
The Sinfonia di vetro
The Oliver/Yu Duo (guitar and zhongruan)
The Thomas Yee/Jose Rodriguez guitar/violin duo, Duo Revirado.
Flautist Fred Lau
Percussionist Doug Ovens
Glass Armonicist Dennis James
The Odeon String Quartet
The Smith Quartet
The Synchronia new music ensemble of St. Louis
Steel drummer Patty Dee
Violinist Brynn Albanese
Nancy Nagano and Kyomi Kato- cello/piano duo
Guitarists Lily Afshar, James Edwards, Giacomo Fiore, Jon Mendle, Jesus Saiz-Huedo, John Schneider, and Peter Yates
Mandolinist Buzz Gravelle.
The USC New Music Ensemble
The Cuesta Master Chorale
The San Luis Obispo Youth Symphony
The combined guitar ensembles of UCLA and Cal Poly Pomona
Singers Jacalyn Kreitzer, Jonathan Mack, John Duykers, Hector Vasquez, Maria Jette, Kathy Barata and others
Eister's music has been performed in Austria, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Belgium, Italy, Japan, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Canada, Iran and in various cities in the United States, and in many prestigious venues including The Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Wigmore Hall in London
Eister's music has been broadcast on CBS television, NPR, PRI and various national radios in Europe.
Sony Classical- His "Quintet for Glass and Strings" was recorded by Dennis James and the Emerson String Quartet for "Cristal: Glass Music Through the Ages," an album of music for instruments made of glass, produced by Linda Ronstadt and John Boylan for Sony Classical.
Other of his compositions and/or performances are available on Archer Records, the SFGQ label, the Glass Duo label, Cold Blue Records and his own Eister Music label. In 2012, Eister was nominated for a Grammyª as a soloist in the category of Best Classical Compilation for his work with the group Partch on the album "The Complete Music of Harry Partch, vl. 1; Bitter Music"
In addition to his concert music activities, Eister's efforts as a film maker have been rewarded with a showing of his documentary short, "Timo's Face," at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Other media activities have included a five-episode series of 30 minute radio theater pieces called "The Pictures in My Head Radio Theater," which were broadcast in the United States and Australia. Eister has also worked closely with visual artist Mark Bryan on a number of sculptures which include soundtracks.
Other musical activities have included teaching at both the elementary school and college levels, various popular music gigs -on a boat, in cocktail lounges, at a dinner theater and in coffee houses- including a two-year stint as music director/piano player at The Great American Melodrama, a family theater that presents melodramas, comedy and vaudeville revues in Oceano, CA. In 2001, Eister made an electronic soundscape to accompany Dennis James' organ score for the silent film, Metropolis for its 2001 screening at The San Francisco International Film Festival.
Eister is a featured artist for the National Reso-Phonic Guitar Company
Eister's work has been written about in Classical Guitar magazine and in the second edition of John Schneider's THE CONTEMPORARY GUITAR, Rowman and Littlefield, 2015.
Eister studied composition with Gordon Crosse, Edward Applebaum, Peter Fricker, Emma Lou Diemer and considers Daniel Lentz to be his mentor. During their association in Santa Barbara in the 1970's, he performed with Lentz's groups on the West Coast and on four European tours.
Eister's music is published in Europe by www.inter-note.com
Eister has a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Eister was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1952. He lives in Arroyo Grande, CA with his wife Mary Lockwood Eister to whom has been married since 1988. His son, Michael Eister, was born in 1982 to Eister's first wife, Carol.
There are no productions for this artist in the Season Schedule of Performances which currently only dates back to 1991.
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Artist Information
All information is derived from OPERA America's Season Schedule of Performances and titles databases which date back to 1991. OPERA America is constantly updating this data. If you feel that a work or an artist has been omitted or that information is incorrect, please use the linked forms below. Title Information Form Artist Information Form
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