Brendan Byrnes is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, audio engineer, educator, and piano tuner currently active in the Los Angeles area. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston he immersed himself in the Chicago music and art scene working with musicians and bands as well as spoken word, video, and performance artists. In addition to performing, producing, and touring nationally with his own projects he played guitar and wrote music with theMDR led by world renowned drummer/composer Matt Walker (Morrisey, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Filter) as well as critically acclaimed orchestral pop group Canasta. Byrnes is perhaps best known for his album Micropangaea released on Spectropol Records in 2012. The album made Igloo Magazine’s Best of 2012 list: “There’s an immediate wow factor embedded within these eight pieces of sonic delight as featured in the tantalizing world of Brendan Byrnes‘ Micropangaea—a kaleidoscope of surreal instrumentation which roots itself in the subconscious and elevates the senses.” Each song on this album is composed with a different microtonal tuning system, giving each it’s own unique harmonic and melodic identity. His works for string ensemble and orchestra have been performed internationally. His String Quartet “Aman” was premiered in 5 cities in Nicaragua including Managua’s National Concert Hall (2004) and “Chroma”, for full orchestra, was premiered by the San Francisco Sinfonietta alongside Paul McCartney’s “Oratorio” in San Francisco, California (2011). A recent collaborative composition with virtuoso violinist and composer Mark Menzies titled “Swongering Butterfly” was premiered for “Ensemble Sospeso: The Machine Breathes” at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, NYC (2012). Byrnes has also composed and conducted a number of large electric guitar ensemble works partially inspired by the work of Glenn Branca. Brendan is a graduate of Branca’s guitar orchestra having performed in New York, New Jersey, and Los Angeles at the Walt Disney Concert Hall for Symphony No. 13 “Hallucination City”. In addition to large ensemble and orchestral works, he continues to produce his own electronic and acoustic works, compose music for choreographers and animators, write songs, and play in various ensembles. As a guitarist, Brendan utilizes a multitude of alternate tunings, prepared guitars, and microtonal guitars fretted for specific tuning systems. His focus on the study of Just Intonation, microtonality, and xenharmony have led to many new pieces exploring the possibilities of these less familiar harmonic spaces. In 2012 he graduated with an MFA in Composition from the California Institute of the Arts where he studied primarily with Wolfgang von Schweinetz and Ulrich Krieger. In addition to freelancing, creative work, and tuning pianos he currently teaches classes in Audio Production, Pro Tools, and Music Theory at the Art Institute of California, Inland Empire as an Adjunct Professor. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.