Michael Byron (b. 1953, Chicago) grew up in Los Angeles. He was a pupil of James Tenney at the newly created California Institute of the Arts, and later, with Richard Teitelbaum, at York University. His music has been performed and recorded by such noted soloists and ensembles as Sarah Cahill, the FLUX Quartet, Joseph Kubera, Jenny Lin, Aki Takahashi, and the William Winant Percussion Ensemble. He taught on the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University, and was editor-publisher of Pieces, a small press devoted to the increased visibility of exploratory directions in American music.
Byron is a composer of instrumental music. The formal organization in his scores is meticulously notated, harmonically rich, and rhythmically intricate. It is also exclusively virtuosic. His furthest effort in this direction is heard in the one-hour work, Dreamers of Pearl, composed for pianist Joseph Kubera.
He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Ontario Arts council, as well as numerous commissions and residencies.
His scores are available from the composers’ collective, Frog Peak Music. Four CDs of his music have been released on Cold Blue Records, two of which are exclusively devoted to his music. His massive Dreamers of Pearl is recorded on New World Records.