Biography
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Born In
Nevada, United States
As a composer, McIntosh is interested in creating music that is vital and compelling while writing with a spirit of experimentalism. He finds that major influences on his creations come from literature, visual art, early music, physics, and the Nevada desert. He writes mostly music in just intonation but also, of course, sometimes writes other things which are not related to that at all.
Also a frequent performer as both violinist and violist, McIntosh is known for being an avid advocate of experimental music, although he often performs compositions from throughout the last 700 years. McIntosh is a member of the Formalist Quartet, which is also dedicated to adventurous and relevant repertoire and regularly performs around the country. He holds degrees in violin and composition from the University of Nevada, Reno and the California Institute of the Arts. As a chamber musician he has played in festivals, concerts, art spaces, and recordings around the US and Europe with the Formalist Quartet, Tholl/McIntosh duo, Quatuor Bozzini, Rohan de Saram, and many others. As a solo artist he has appeared at venues such as Stanford University, REDCAT, the Wulf, Hamburger Klangwerktage (Germany), Schijnheilig (Amsterdam), the Hammer Museum, and KPFK Pacifica Radio, as well as with the New Century Players, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Reno Philharmonic, and inauthentica. He also recently was the viola soloist in the US premiere of Gerard Grisey's Les Espaces Acoustiques, for which performance the LA Times said he "played with commanding beauty". Composers with whom he has worked closely include Marc Sabat, Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Helmut Lachenmann, Tom Johnson, Jurg Frey, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Samuel Vriezen, Wadada Leo Smith, and many others.
A native of rural Northern Nevada, McIntosh is currently based in the Los Angeles area where he teaches violin at Pomona College and enjoys a large and frequently unexpected variety of performing, recording, teaching, and composing activities.
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