Mikel Rouse

Mikel Rouse is a New York-based composer, director, performer and recording artist hailed as “a
composer many believe to be the best of his generation.” (NY Times) His works include 25
records, 7 films, and a trilogy of media operas: Failing Kansas, Dennis Cleveland and The End
Of Cinematics. His work has frequently appeared on Top Ten lists around the country.
In 1995, Rouse premiered and directed the first opera in his trilogy: Failing Kansas, inspired by
Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. This led to an emerging art form he calls "counterpoetry," which
involves the use of multiple unpitched voices in counterpoint. In 1996 Mr. Rouse premiered and
directed the modern talk show opera Dennis Cleveland, hailed by The Village Voice as "the most
exciting and innovative new opera since Einstein on the Beach".
The third opera in his trilogy, The End Of Cinematics, premiered at the Krannert Center for the
performing Arts in Fall 2005. In fall 2006, Rouse embarked on a major tour of The End Of
Cinematics. Stops included Carolina Performing Arts, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the
University of Florida at Gainesville, Liverpool, and the Carnival Center in Miami.
Rouse has also operated on a more intimate scale as a solo live performer, traversing the globe
like a 21st-century Mark Twain with a surreally beautiful song-and-video storytelling piece called
Music For Minorities.
A new piece for The Merce Cunningham Dance Company premiered in NYC in October 2006.
The piece was scored for multiple iPods set to "shuffle" so that each audience member had a
different realization of the score. The music for the piece, International Cloud Atlas, was released
on iTunes and was available for download prior to the premiere.
He has received commissions from Brooklyn Academy of Music, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable
Trust and the Meet the Composer/Reader's Digest Commissioning Program. Rouse's
compositions have been performed at Lincoln Center, the New York State Theater, and Alice
Tully Hall, and throughout the United States and Europe. More information is available at
mikelrouse.com.
Mikel Rouse’s music is available on iTunes.