Who Is Queen? 5: Matana Roberts, Tyshawn Sorey

Composers and musicians Matana Roberts and Tyshawn Sorey discuss the collaborative nature of solo music and composing as an embodiment of the self

Published on the occasion of Adam Pendleton: Who Is Queen? at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the book series Who Is Queen? adapts conversations between pairs of notable writers, theorists, philosophers and musicians into contrapuntal texts intertwined with archival photographs and additional writings.
Matana Roberts (born 1975) is a sound experimentalist, musician, composer and alto saxophonist who works in many performance and sound mediums, including improvisation, dance, poetry and theater.
Newark-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey (born 1980) is celebrated for his virtuosity, his mastery of highly complex scores and an ability to blend composition and improvisation. He has performed nationally and internationally with his own ensembles and with artists such as John Zorn, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, Wadada Leo Smith, Marilyn Crispell, George E. Lewis, Jason Moran, Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton and Myra Melford, among others.