Brian Kelly (composer)

For other people named Brian Kelly, see Brian Kelly (disambiguation).
Brian Kelly
Background information
Born 1960
New York City, U.S.
Genres Contemporary Instrumental
Neoclassical (New Age)
Jazz Fusion
Smooth Jazz
Instruments Piano, Keyboards
Years active 1990 – present
Labels Skylight Music
Website www.briankelly.com

Brian Kelly is an award-winning American composer, pianist, and recording artist producing contemporary instrumental and solo piano music. He has released three contemporary piano instrumental albums and published two sheet music songbooks.

Career

Brian’s latest release, Butterfly Rapture , is a collection of twelve solo piano neoclassical pieces with jazz, gospel, and Celtic influences.[1][2][3][4][5] The album, Kelly's third studio album,[6] was awarded Best Instrumental / Piano Album in the Akedemia Music Awards (February 2016),[7][8] was awarded the Bronze Medal by Global Music Awards in the Instrumental Performance Solo category,[9] and was nominated 2015 “Contemporary and Modern” Album of the Year by SoloPiano.com.[10] “Piano Escapade,” the opening track, was nominated for a 2016 Hollywood Music in Media (HMMA) Award in the New Age/Ambient category.[11] Butterfly Rapture charted #4 on the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart in January 2016.[12]

Brian’s previous album, Afterplay, was awarded second place in the “Best Instrumental Jazz Album” category of the Just Plain Folks Music Awards, and "Celtic Fire," track #8 from the album, was nominated "Best Instrumental Jazz Song." Afterplay ranked third on the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 Radio Chart for three months in a row (November 2008 thru January 2009) and was chosen as a “Best of 2008” pick by Audiosyncracy. The album features Eric Crystal on sax, Viviana Guzman on flute, and David Rokeach on drums.[13][14][15][16][17][18]

Brian’s debut album, Pools of Light, charted #1 on the New Age Reporter international radio charts for two months in a row (June and July 2005) and garnered him a “Best New Artist” nomination in the 2005 Lifestyle Music Awards. Pools of Light was named among the Top 40 Favorite CDs of the Decade (2000-2009) by Kathy Parsons of MainlyPiano.com.[19][20][21][22][23]

Brian was Keyboard magazine’s Annual Reader Tape Contest winner for the recording of his composition “Todd Pond,” which is included on the Flexi-disc Soundpage in the February 1990 issue.[24] His music has been featured in television (Travel Channel, BBC Worldwide, MTV), film (NBA Entertainment), in-flight programming (United, JetBlue, Continental, Southwest), and receives airplay from radio stations and satellite music networks around the world (Music Choice, Sirius XM radio, Pandora Radio, Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio).[25] His sheet music songbooks, published by Skylight Music, include: Pools of Light Solo Piano Songbook and Tomorrow's Daydream Solo Piano Songbook.

Background

Born in New York City, Brian grew up in Palo Alto, California. He began his piano studies at age 8, creating pieces for his mother who played classical piano at home and violin for a community opera company. Brian has extensive experience as a stage actor and singer, having performed in numerous plays and musical theatre productions, including several leading roles at TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley) and the Palo Alto Children’s Theatre. He studied music composition with Lewis Spratlan at Amherst College and Roland Wiggins at Hampshire College; improvisation with members of the world-fusion group Oregon (Ralph Towner and Paul McCandless) and pianist Art Lande at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado; and jazz piano with Andy LaVerne in New York City.

Brian is a graduate of Hampshire College, a voting member of the Recording Academy, and currently resides with his wife and their two tuxedo cats in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Sheet Music

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ "Butterfly Rapture CD review at MainlyPiano.com". mainlypiano.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Butterfly Rapture album review at NewAgeMusicReviews.net". newagemusicreviews.net. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Butterfly Rapture album review at Improvijazzation Nation". rotcodzzaj.com. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Diamond, Michael (9 January 2016). "Brian Kelly and Butterfly Rapture feature article on Music and Media Focus". michaeldiamondmusic.com. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Sheppard, Steve (24 March 2016). "Butterfly Rapture Audio CD Customer Review by One World Music Radio". amazon.com. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Butterfly Rapture album review at MainlyPiano.com". MainlyPiano.com. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Winner Best Album Instrumental / Piano February 2016". TheAkademia.com. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "The Akademia Music Awards Announces Its February 2016 Winners & Finalists". mi2n.com. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Global Music Awards: Winners - March 2016". GlobalMusicAwards.com. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "2015 Album of the Year Nominees Announced!". SoloPiano.com. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Hollywood Music In Media Awards: 2016 Music Genre Nominees". hmmawards.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "New Age / Ambient / World Top 100 Radio Chart". ZoneMusicReporter.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Afterplay CD review at MainlyPiano.com". mainlypiano.com. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Afterplay album review at Improvijazzation Nation". rotcodzzaj.com. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  15. ↑ "NAR Radio Chart November 2008". Zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  16. ↑ "NAR Radio Chart December 2008". Zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  17. ↑ "NAR Radio Chart January 2009". Zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Just Plain Folks Music Award Nominees 2009". Jpfolks.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  19. ↑ "NAR Radio Chart June 2005". Newagereporter.com. March 2, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  20. ↑ "NAR Radio Chart July 2005". Newagereporter.com. March 2, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  21. ↑ 2005 NAR Lifestyle Music Award Nominees – web page archived at the Internet Archive
  22. ↑ "Pools Of Light CD review at MainlyPiano.com". mainlypiano.com. August 31, 2004. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Kathy Parsons’ Top 40 Favorite CDs for the Decade (2000-2009)". mainlypiano.com. April 8, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  24. ↑ "The Year's Best Home Tapes", Jim Aikin, Keyboard Magazine, 1990
  25. ↑ "XM Satellite Radio playlist". (xmfan.com). Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  26. ↑ "Orange Music catalog". Orangemusicnet.com. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
  27. ↑ "Just Plain Folks Music Awards 2009, Album Winners". Jpfolks.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Just Plain Folks Music Awards 2009, Song Nominees". Jpfolks.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.

External links

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