welcome!
Keith Lay, composer
Work & Ideas
Music • Sound • Science • Spirit
Current In-Process Projects
A new version of Earth Caoine (Earth Cry) for OCCO
Earth Caoine (Cry) is a wail of loss for the planet, written for Richard Stoltzman in 1995-6 and recorded in Warsaw, Poland for MMC Recordings in 1996. I am creating a new arrangement of this work for Jessica Hall Speak and the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra. This concerto for clarinet and ...
Distance Music Documentary: The First Ten Years
Distance Music: The First Ten Years I am culling a documentary out of the hours of concert footage and development videos to tell the story of "Distance Music." A massive project, I hope to complete it before the end of 2025. The following videos are examples a fraction of the footage ...
Tree Music
Imagine each tree in a grove contributing a unique voice to a dynamic, living symphony: each tone being a result of mapping sap flow, water content, energy flow, and more, to a specific sonic component. How would each tree respond to the sun emerging from behind a cloud? to an ...
Deep Listening® Orlando Feb 19th
Deep Listening is a composer’s sound practice devised by the legendary composer Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) and practiced in group meetings world-wide. I lead the Orlando DL group every third Wednesday at the Timucua Arts Foundation "White House". It is open to everyone and devised to serve and expand our well-being, especially ...
FUTURE NATURE
Sinuhe Vega Negrin's paintings, ceramic sculptures and drawings delve into themes of ecological and human fragility to which I am adding an immersive score of ultrasonic plants, insects and birds. I will help to transform the gallery into a vast space of mystery. Through April 13, 2025MAITLAND ART CENTERInspired by the ...
The Flower of Life Studio Sessions
The music from my June 15th's "The Flower of Life I" was recorded with its premiering ensemble, The Brass Band of Central Florida under its Musical Director, Gareth Pritchard by engineer Meredith Douglas at Full Sail University's"Audio Temple". The band hopes to return to the studio this spring for The ...
WORKS & ACTIVITES
• 2024 •
GIG Podcast With Mike Redman
Mike Redman is a well established music composer of the Orlando area - a very musical gent who composed for the Disney theme parks. More recently, he has interviewed and written about the qualities of personality found in successful individuals within the Film and Music ...
The Flower of Life @ Full Sail University
What is distance music and what is so special about this piece ? Distance Music defies conventional descriptions. It's not just a music event, but an interactive journey, akin to a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). By meticulously arranging where instruments are placed in ...
Lasting Impressions with Orchestra
Lasting Impressions in 3D is a world-touring media experience starring tenor Adam Fisher, live orchetra and brilliant new concert hall-sized visual technology. Designed by Ed Kasses with support from Sophie Renoir, the audience experiences an incredible multidimensional journey into the original paintings of the major ...
America’s Wonders The Augusta Symphony
America's Wonders A 3D and Musical Adventure Exploring America's National Parks and Exciting Cities is a unique cinematic and musical celebration, giving audiences the opportunity to see striking 3D film by McGillvray & Freeman while an orchestra takes them on a journey through America.During the first ...
Children On The Playground in Brno Czech Republic
My award winning Violin Concerto for Strings, "Children On The Playground" was performed in Brno, Czech Republic by a new, young violinist Martin Pavlik and the Orchestra / conductor who recorded it in 2022: The Brno Contemporary Chamber Orchestra under Pavel Snadjr. This concert was made ...
• 2023 •
America’s Wonders The Naples Philharmonic
America's Wonders A 3D and Musical Adventure Exploring America's National Parks and Exciting Cities is a unique cinematic and musical celebration, giving audiences the opportunity to see striking 3D film by McGillvray & Freeman while an orchestra takes them on a journey through America.During the ...
Over the North Jetty for Florida Choral Directors
"Over the North Jetty" for Double Chorus, Wind Octet and Flapper is a poem by William Stafford that speaks the thoughts of the poet watching a flock of geese in a northern winter storm. In his poem we are invited into deep empathy, as he observes ...
Over the North Jetty
"Over the North Jetty" for Double Chorus, Wind Octet and Flapper is a poem by William Stafford that speaks the thoughts of the poet watching a flock of geese in a northern winter storm. In his poem we are invited into deep empathy, as he observes ...
ACDA Florida Chapter Presentation with Dr. Andrew Minear
A week before Orlando Sings publicly presented "Over the North Jetty", the director of that organization, Dr. Andrew Minear, invited me to join him in presenting ideas in why choral singing is healthy. Lots of fun to work with Andrew in that setting and present ...
long contented waltz
"Long" Contented Waltz was created to get real brain wave frequency data to explore reactions to 432Hz tuning. It is the long version (10 minutes) of "Contented Waltz" a four minute piece that began as a solo classical guitar work in 1995. This extended version duplicates ...
Sacred Awe: the overview effect
"Sacred Awe" aims to transport the audience on a transformative voyage, leaving them with a renewed sense of grounding, contentment, and a deep appreciation for the delicate beauty of our planet. Through the universal language of music, this symphonic work seeks to evoke empathy and ...
FMEA – Emerging Leaders Program “Coming Together through Music”...
The Florida Music Education Association honored me to speak at their Emerging Leaders Conference. I chose to present basic Deep Listening® and HeartMath techniques and describe how they facilitate playing and singing in music ensembles. Originally titled "Coming Together Through Music", I updated the presentation ...
Children On The Playground concerto recording release
Navona records released my Violin Concerto for Strings "Children On The Playground" with violinist Milan Pala and the Brno Contemporary Orchestra under Pavel Snadjr. My most popular concert work, I'm thrilled that it has finally seen a worldwide, professional release! Milan Pala's storied emotional range is ...
• 2022 •
Contented Waltz
A gentle waltz, this music began life in 1995 as a sketch called "Waltz for Guitar". I knew and loved the expressive sound of the instrument from my friendships with excellent guitarists like Stephen Aron at Oberlin and Tom Olson in Clevelend, as well as ...
“Four Dimensions” with TEREMA, St. Petersburg, Russia...
Four Dimensions is a seven-minute “concert of the future” composed in 2012 merging orchestra with both live and pre-recorded electronics. In St. Petersburg, Russia, a quite different double orchestra of Russian folk instruments and Strings called TEREMA performed a fascinating new arrangement with the same ...
FusionFest Fanfare 2022
FusionFest is an annual Orlando bash lasting two days on Thanksgiving Weekend. I was commissioned to produce the" Opening Spectacle" for both days. Scored for Brass Band (British), Chorus and African Drums, my goal was simply to create exciting music fitting for our city - something ...
Funky Tubes
To pay respect to James Brown, I cataloged the riffs in his 1972 "Funky Drummer" to create "Funky Tubes for Tuba Trio," commissioned by the FMTNA, premiering at their convention in 2018.I met Bob after hearing about his search into lost metallurgic processes that produced ...
Children On the Playground recording session in the Czech Republ...
The PARMA classical label team recorded "Children On The Playground" with Milan Paľa, violin and the Brno Contemporary Orchestra, conducted by Pavel Šnajdr in Brno, CZ on August 16th, 2022Milán Pala is Europe's up-and-coming violinist - known for his unbounded energy and passion.The Brno Contemporary ...
TongLen
This music, created with sampled orchestra and live musicians Beatriz Ramirez and Benoit Glazer, is formally structured to follow the experience of tonglen, a Tibetan Buddhist word translating to 'give and receive.' Tonglen is a series of mindful steps to build loving-kindness, empathy, and compassion ...
America’s Wonders The Florida Orchestra (Tampa)
America's Wonders A 3D and Musical Adventure Exploring America's National Parks and Exciting Cities is a unique cinematic and musical celebration, giving audiences the opportunity to see striking 3D images while an orchestra takes them on a journey through America.During the first half of the ...
America’s Wonders The Orlando Philharmonic
America's Wonders A 3D and Musical Adventure Exploring America's National Parks and Exciting Cities is a unique cinematic and musical celebration, giving audiences the opportunity to see striking 3D images while an orchestra takes them on a journey through America.During the first half of the ...
• 2021 •
FusionFest FANFARE 2021
Placed across 20 acres of downtown Orlando 29 brass, 7 train horns, 4 conch shells and a solo Hawai'ian vocal, this "Opening Spectacle" was a declaration of musical joy and cultural harmony, filling the air between Orlando City Hall and the Dr. Phillips Center. This ...
Distance Music @ IMMERSE 2021
Wouldn't it be fun to walk down 460 feet of Orlando's Orange Avenue, listening to a beautiful modern chord echoing through the air between its buildings - that changes its rhythm and note order as you move? To be surrounded by it, in infinite variations ...
• 2020 •
DRIVING TO WORK, I STOP SUDDENLY TO LET AN ALLIGATOR CROSS THE R...
For Soprano and Piano Performed by Anna Eschbach, soprano and Kristine Griffin, piano at the Timucua Arts Foundation during the Covid-19 pandemic. While most of our audience was onine, ten lucky people were given the opporunity to attend personally. This was a Central Florida Composers ...
• 2019 •
America’s Wonders The Utah Symphony
is a unique cinematic and musical celebration, giving audiences the opportunity to see striking 3D images while an orchestra takes them on a journey through America. This, our second set of performances received rave reviews from the press and audience. During the first half of the ...
America’s Wonders Premieres with The Cincinnati Pops
is a unique cinematic and musical celebration, giving audiences the opportunity to see striking 3D images while an orchestra takes them on a journey through America. This production was our premiere and the CEO of Princeton Entertainment flew the team in to witness our work ...
• 2018 •
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• 2017 •
Woodwind Quintet No. 2
No instrument groups have as much personality than do the woodwinds. This quintet was written for the Alterity Chamber Orchestra's principal winds from late May through July 15th 2017 via a call for scores by CF2 . It premiered on October 15th, 2017 at the ...
• 2016 •
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• 2012 •
inSPIRE for 22 brass, Carillon, Bell & Distance
https://youtu.be/NJ9aXLzaiuMOn October 20, 2012, musicians placed on rooftops, steeples, and lake boats in downtown Orlando, Florida performed "inSPIRE for 22 Brass, Carillons, C Bell and Distance," the first experiment in "distance music." The Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs department supported the project as a ...
Equilateral for Clarinet Quartet
https://youtu.be/Pi2hq05eYMoEquilateral for Four Clarinets, commissioned by Kevin Strang for the Sunshine Clarinet Quartet, is my first attempt to create music that flows on a seamless compression and relaxation of time that I call "Flowing Meter." The quartet premiered it at ClarinetFest 2012 in Asissi, Italy ...
• 2010 •
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