Kirk O'Riordan’s music has been referred to as “unapologetically beautiful” and is often praised for its uniquely “visual” qualities that depict a wide range of striking moods. His debut compact disk, Strange Flowers, was released by Ravello Records in November, 2013 and was praised by Audiophile Audition as “one of the most impressive and beautiful collections of chamber music I have heard in awhile....This is all just so lovely and invokes exactly the emotions that good music should be able to induce in all of us." Gramophone Magazine praised O’Riordan as “a composer for whom imagery is a defining inspiration....[he] is a deeply sensitive composer who savours going gently into the night.” (April 2014).

His recording of his Twenty-Six Preludes for Solo Piano—by pianist Holly Roadfeldt—has attracted similar praise: “are similarly atmospheric and proceed to unfold like a magical tapestry. Each of the 26 Preludes seemingly comprising of warp and weft forming a myriad of pixels of little pictures that ultimately combines to form a moveable feast for both eye and inner ear. O’Riordan’s miniatures are informed by languorous beauty and profundity, the lyrical variations of each often feature elaborate embellishments, as well as sudden dissonant figurations that seem to mimic the gravity-defying leaps of the gazelle...” (World Music Report, April 2017).

O’Riordan (b. 1968) is an active composer, conductor, saxophonist, and teacher. His music has been performed in Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Finland, Italy, and Russia; and in thirty of the fifty United States. Performances of his works have been featured at the Ravenna Festival (Italy), the Indiana State University, University of North Carolina, Greensboro and Western Illinois New Music Festivals, the 2008 Eugene Rousseau Birthday Celebration, national and regional conferences of the Society of Composers, Inc. and the College Music Society; and in concert by such performers as the Eaken Piano Trio, Tresillo, The Moran Woodwind Quintet, Orchestra Bruno Maderna (Italy), the Arizona State University Chamber Winds and Symphony Orchestra, the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Cleveland State University Orchestra, the University of Colorado Chamber Wind Ensemble, the University of Delaware University Singers, the Williamsport Chamber Chorus and Orchestra, the Susquehanna University Orchestra and Chamber Singers, The Lafayette College Concert Band, Contemporary Music Ensemble, and Percussion Ensemble, the SKIN Ensemble, Frederick Hemke, Timothy McAllister, Lawrence Stomberg, Marianne Gythfeldt, Kenneth Tse, Jeffrey Lyman, Emily Bullock, Steven Stusek, Andrew Rammon, Reuben Councill, John Perrine, and Holly Roadfeldt.

Kirk is the recipient of numerous awards as both a composer and a performer, including annual ASCAPlus awards, a Composer's Assistance Program grant from the American Music Center, the 2001 Arizona State University Composition Competition, the 2000 Contemporary Music Society competition, and an ERM-Media Masterworks Prize. In addition, his Cadenza for Piano Trio was one of two works selected by audience members at the CMS Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Super-regional Conference for performance at the 2008 CMS National Conference.

Kirk's music has been broadcast on WSMR, KBAQ, WQSU, and WVIA radio. Recordings of his works appear on the Crystal Records, Ravello, Centaur, ERM-Media and EnF labels, and feature performances by Kenneth Tse, Lawrence Stomberg, Marianne Gythfeldt, Holly Roadfeldt, Frederick L. Hemke, The Kiev Philharmonic, and Farrell Vernon. He has recently received commissions from AVIDduo, Saxton Rose, and Holly Roadfeldt. He recently completed his first opera: The Masque of Edgar Allan Poe, a one-act chamber opera based on Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” on a libretto by Lafayette College colleague Lee Upton. The work was premiered by the University of Delaware Opera Theater in November, 2016 and subsequently at Lafayette College. Other projects have focused on music for dance: his River Lights for Orchestra (as recorded by the Kiev Philharmonic) was used by dancer/choreographer Ben Munisteri in his piece, Robot vs. Mermaid. O’Riordan has also collaborated with dancer/choreographers Carrie Rohman and Nandini Sikand. Recent projects include a concerto for Taiko Ensemble and Concert Band (for the Lafayette College Percussion Ensemble and Concert Band), incidental music for a Lafayette College Department of Theater production of Mary Zimmerman’s play Metamorphosis, and a new work for viola and piano for violist Michael Hall and pianist Holly Roadfeldt.

Dr. O'Riordan joined the faculty of Lafayette College in 2009, and now serves as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands, teaching courses in music theory, and composition. In addition, he teaches in the First-year Seminar program and conducts the Lafayette College Concert Band and Contemporary Music Ensemble. During his time at Lafayette, the Concert Band has been hailed for its ambitious and adventurous programming, having performed works such as Husa’s Music for Prague 1968, his own orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition, and world premieres by O’Riordan, Ashley Kushner, Justin Kogasaka, Zach Jones, Pete Deshler, and William Pfaff. Previously, he served on the faculties of Bucknell University and Susquehanna University where he taught music theory, composition, music appreciation, and (English) writing. He has also served on the faculties of Lock Haven University, Colorado Christian University, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, and Paradise Valley Community College. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University (the first recipient of that degree from ASU); the Certificate of Performance in Saxophone from Northwestern University; and three Master of Music degrees (composition, saxophone performance, and conducting).

Kirk has studied composition with Rodney Rogers, Randall Shinn, James De Mars, Glenn Hackbarth, Jay Alan Yim, Burton Beerman, Marilyn Shrude, and Donald M. Wilson. He has studied saxophone with Frederick L. Hemke, John Sampen, Eugene Rousseau, and Iwan Roth. In his free time, Kirk is an avid fan of Obstacle Course Racing.

Press

"Kirk O’Riordan is not strictly speaking a minimalist, yet he possesses that rare quality of capturing a vivid musical landscape with Webern-like efficiency."
The Morning Call (Full review here)

"Lovers of early 20th century art music will no doubt take great pleasure in Kirk O’Riordan’s AUTUMN WINDS, but they are far from the only ones who will; O'Riordan's music will fire the imagination of all those fascinated by life, language, and the distinct challenge of expressing poetry and poetic themes in song."
PARMA Recordings

"Often minimal and always daring, fans of early 20th century art music will certainly be enamored here, as will those with an ear for poetic and elegant chamber sounds."
Take Effect Music Reivews (Full review here)

"He haunts and provokes, excites and soothes."
American Record Guide

"Autumn Winds is a new CD of vocal and chamber music by American composer Kirk O’Riordan. Much of the music is unashamedly beautiful but it doesn’t sound in the least retro. It’s a long way from the neo-Broadway style that drives me nuts."
Opera Ramblings(Full review here)

"Compositionally [Autumn Winds] seems on first blush simple at heart but as one listens the details both flesh themselves out and freshen the listening mind so that it all seems increasingly evergreen and more complex than at first might be thought."
Gapplegate Classical Reviews

"...composer Kirk O’Riordan writes with both fluidity and intelligence. His concerto for alto saxophone Dutcus figuratus takes its title (figurative style) from a device in rhetoric. In O’Riordan’s piece, the figurations are far from dalliances. Instead, they carve out a markedly austere outlook (which, we learn, was inspired by the cathedral at Rouen, France). One certainly hears that figuration in the opening movement, “Cadens” (cadenza) before “Abeo” (chant) takes over in the far more ruminative second movement. This second movement is highly impressive, its ceremonial, and ritual elements highly contrastive to the dance of “Tripudio.” The rhythmic complexities of the final “Demum” (at last, finally) are superbly negotiated here by Kenneth Tse."
Fanfare Magazine

"...there are precious few saxophone concertos around, so any new one is worthy of interest; and O’Riordan’s is certainly a work worth investigating. It must be said that, for much of this 20-minute work, he seems so intent on moving away from the saxophone’s traditional stomping ground of jazz, that it often seems dauntingly dark and heavyweight....there is, in the jagged, angular rhythms, and foot-tripping syncopations, something quite invigorating. There is a lot of clever and effective writing here, and Tse is a splendidly fluent and masterful advocate for this new concerto."
Musicweb International (Full review here)