Dan Tepfer

Due to contract restrictions, this presentation will be available to view through February 14, 2024.

Dan Tepfer is a pianist-composer. He has recorded and performed around the world and composed for various ensembles. He believes the best music exists at the intersection of the spiritual and the algorithmic.  

His performances incorporate improvisation at the piano accompanied by a computer program he wrote to interact with the music—both musically and visually—in real-time. While Tepfer may have more technology available than classical composers, he has discovered algorithms and logical systems in other famous works, including those by Bach.  

Tepfer takes a unique approach to his compositions. Additionally, his musical prowess is recognized across the world. His piano quintet, Solar Spiral, was premiered in 2016 at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, with Tepfer performing alongside the Avalon String Quartet. Tepfer has received commissions from the Prague Castle Guard Orchestra for his suite Algorithmic Transform and concerto The View from Orohena (2010). In the summer of 2019, Tepfer unveiled his jazz-trio arrangement of Stravinsky’s Baroque-channeling Pulcinella. 

Presentations at Calvin University

From Bach to Natural Machines: Algorithms as the Shapers of Music
Part of the: January Series
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 12:30:00 PM