A man with short brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a dark purple button-up shirt, standing against a bright yellow background.

SEAN FRIAR is a Rome Prize-winning composer and pianist who writes music for orchestras, chamber ensembles, installations, invented instruments, and electronics. His first musical experiences were in rock and blues piano improvisation, and his music keeps in touch with the energy and communicative directness of those musical roots along with an expansive and exploratory classical sensibility that is “refreshingly new and solidly mature… and doesn’t take on airs, but instead takes joy in the process of discovery and in the continual experience of suspense and surprise that good classical music has always championed.” (Slate Magazine).

His music has been performed throughout the world by ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic Scharoun Ensemble, the American Composers Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, Crash Ensemble, Ensemble Klang, NOW Ensemble, Eastman Wind Ensemble, and many more. Beginning in 2026, his Little Green Pop is featured in Normal Studio’s The Celestia Experience, a multisensory installation presented in Denver’s St. John’s Cathedral. His recent album, Before and After, was released on New Amsterdam Records to international critical acclaim, being called “heartbreaking[ly] beaut[iful]” (Gonzo Circus, Amsterdam), “beautifully crafted” (The Whole Note, Toronto), and “the existential void I want to crawl into like a hot bath on a cold night” (Van Magazine, Berlin).

”Little Green Pop”, featured in Paquin Entertainment/Normal Studio’s The Celestia Experience in St. John’s Cathedral, Denver.

“Chant” from Before and After, New Amsterdam Records.

“Bassoon Concerto” for solo bassoon and wind ensemble.

Event Calendar

December 6, 2026 – “Velvet Hammer” performed by the Tapiola Sinfonietta Subcultures concert, Villa Gyllenberg, Helsinki, Finland.
November 16, 2026 – Kuuskmann-Friar duo concert at Louisiana State University.
July 31-August 13, 2026 – Composition Mentor in Residence, Soundbox Fellowship Program, Shanghai, China.
July 21-27, 2026 – Composition Mentor in Residence, Soundbox Fellowship Program, Sarasota, FL.
July 12-19, 2026 – Senior Composer in Residence at the Chamber Music Conference and Composers Forum of the East.
June 11, 2026 – Awarded one-year sabbatical from the University of Denver for the 2026-27 academic year.
June 11, 2026 – Promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver, effective September 1, 2026.
June 11, 2026 onward – “Little Green Pop” featured in the Celestia Experience multisensory installation at St. John’s Cathedral, Denver, CO.
May 30, 2026 – “Nimbus” premiered by Playground Ensemble at Leon Gallery, Denver, CO.
May 21, 2026 – “Before and After” performed by NOW Ensemble, University of Denver, Lamont School of Music, Denver, CO.
May 20, 2026 – “Before and After” performed by NOW Ensemble, at Muse Performance Space, Lafayette, CO.
May 1, 2026 – Composition Competition Director, Lone Tree Composer in Residence Competition, Lone Tree, CO.
April 17, 2026 — “Fit” featured on Beyond 12: Volume 3, performed by Vicki Ray and Aron Kallay. Microfest Records
April 8-12, 2026 – Composition Mentor in Residence at “Hearing Memory” and Soundbox Recording Workshop, Sarasota, FL.
July 21-24, 2025 – Director of Sunset ChamberFest Young Composers Workshop (Los Angeles, CA).
July 16, 2025 – WINNER of Nu Quintet’s call for scores for woodwind quintet.
July 16, 2025 – Hell-Bent for piano trio performed by Amy Galuzzo, Laura Metcalf, and Sayaka Tanikawa at Chamber Music Conference of the East.
July 13-20, 2025 – Acting Senior Composer in Residence, Chamber Music Conference of the East, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY.
May 23, 2025 – Two Solitudes performed by Kwan Yi at Symphony Hall, Manhattan School of Music, New York, NY.
May 20, 2025 – Two Solitudes performed by Kwan Yi at Holley Hall, Sarasota Orchestra Symphony Center (Sarasota, FL).
May 19-21, 2025 – Featured speaker, Suncoast Music and Storytelling Conference (Sarasota, FL)
May 16-19, 2025 – Composition Mentor in Residence, Suncoast Composer Recording Workshop (Sarasota, FL).
April 15, 2025 – Short Winds performed by USC Thornton Edge Ensemble (Don Crockett, Director) (Newman Recital Hall, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA).
March 12, 2025 – Premiere of Renew by the University of Denver Lamont Wind Ensemble (Joseph Martin, Director) (Gates Concert Hall, University of Denver, CO).
February 22, 2025 – Playground Ensemble Concert (Holiday Theater, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO).
October 2-7, 2024 – Composition Mentor in Residence, Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program Session 2, Sarasota, FL.
September 5, 2024 – Elected to Playground Ensemble’s Board of Directors.
August 18-24, 2024 – Composition Mentor in Residence, Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program Session 1, Sarasota, FL.
July 14-21, 2024 – Senior Composer in Residence, Chamber Music Conference of the East, Hamilton, NY.
July 6, 2024 – Short Winds performed at the Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, Bowdoin Music Festival, Brunswick, ME.
June 8-11, 2024 – Director, Sunset ChamberFest Young Composers Workshop, Los Angeles, CA.
June 5, 2024 – Juror for 2024 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards.
April 15-17, 2024 – Composer in Residence, College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA.
April 14, 2024 – Goodson Chapel Recital Hall, Shenandoah Conservatory, Short Winds performed by Van Buren Winds.
February 2, 2024 – Hamilton Recital Hall, University of Denver. Kuuskmann-Friar Duo perform new program of music by Sean Friar for amplified bassoon, piano, and effects pedals.
January 27, 2024 – Pomona College, Music of Californians. Ray-Kallay Duo performs Fit.
January 19, 2024 – Album Release: Shades (Ravello Records). Featuring Friar’s Shades and his piano performances on his own work and Gala Flagello’s Candlewood.
November 21, 2023 – Corwin Concert Series, UC Santa Barbara, Inflection Points. Piano Spheres performs Fit.
November 7, 2023 – California Festival, 2220 Arts and Archives, Inflection Points, Los Angeles, CA. Piano Spheres performs Fit.
October 27-November 2, 2023 – West/Southwest performance and masterclass tour with Jeff Siegfried, saxophone: CU Boulder, University of Southern California, Cal State Long Beach, Texas Tech, and ENMU. Featuring Mezereon, Shades, Elastic Loops.
August 30-September 6, 2023 – Composition Faculty in Residence, Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program, Sarasota, FL.
July 30-August 6, 2023 – Composer in Residence, Chamber Music Conference of the East, Hamilton, NY. Performances of Short Winds and String Quartet 2.
June 17-30, 2023 – Composition Director, Lamont Summer Academy, Denver, CO.
June 10-14, 2023 – Composition Director, Sunset ChamberFest Young Composers Workshop, Los Angeles, CA.
May 30, 2023 – Zipper Hall, Los Angeles, CA, Ray-Kallay duo plays Fit.
May 9, 2023 – Roulette, New York, NY, Piano Spheres. Ray-Kallay Duo plays Fit.
May 3, 2023 – Gates Concert Hall, Newman Center, Denver, CO. Premiere of Bassoon Concerto, with Martin Kuuskmann and the DU Wind Ensemble.
April 11, 2023 – Lindhurst Theater, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA. Scale 9 performed by the Pickford Ensemble (Lincoln Hanks, Director).
March 31, 2023 – North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conference, Hattiesburg, MS. Jeff Siegfried and Sean Friar perform Mezereon and others works.
March 21-31, 2023 – Performance tour with Jeff Siegfried, saxophone: Vanderbilt, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Memphis, Appalachian State, Austin Peay. Featuring Mezereon, Shades, Two Solitudes.