Title: Outside the Box
Commission: 1996
Completed: 1999
Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, and cello
Premiere Location: Merkin Hall, NYC
Premiere Ensemble: New Millenium Ensemble
Notes:

Sean Varah is a composer, cellist, and entrepreneur. Raised in Vancouver, Canada, he studied cello with Judith Fraser at the Vancouver Academy of Music, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the University of Western Ontario, and Eric Wilson, University of British Columbia. He holds degrees from Stanford and Columbia University, where he received his doctorate of musical arts. His principal teacher was Mario Davidovsky.

Pushing the envelope of modern classical music, Varah composes purely instrumental works, as well as ones that combine technology with orchestral instruments. In many of his compositions, he uses computers to produce abstract sound mosaics behind live players. To accomplish this, he combines 1960’s analog tape technique, modern synthesizer technology, live classical musicians, and traditional orchestration to create works that expand the sound palette of traditional instruments into the digital/electronic realm.