Kelly Moran

Kelly Moran

Kelly Moran is a Brooklyn-born keyboardist, composer, performer, improviser, sound designer and multimedia artist. Born in 1988, she works across ambient, avant-garde metal, classical, electronic, experimental and neoclassical music.

Background and training

Moran studies Performing Arts Technology at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, where she focuses on piano and composition. Her teachers in piano include Stephen Rush and Louis Nagel, and she studies composition with Bright Sheng and Erik Santos. She later receives a fellowship for Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology at the University of California, Irvine.

Work as a pianist and composer

As a pianist, Moran gives recitals of contemporary piano repertoire and focuses on the work of John Cage, John Adams, George Crumb, Henry Cowell and Philip Glass. She also works on composition for dance, which leads to collaborations including the production Click, Flash, Cut at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Recordings and recognition

Moran is one of the winners of the 2009 New Music On the Block Competition for her piece jeu de nuage fumé. Her debut album, Microcosms, is released in 2010. Her 2018 album Ultraviolet draws attention for its use of improvisation, synthesizers and effects in place of more tightly written piano composition.