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Michael Torke is a contemporary composer whose works attract both classical audiences and the general public. His music is a fusion between styles, with neo-romantic music taking shape in jazz-like idioms. At the same time, he uses minimalist approaches in some pieces to create almost hypnotic patterns. Torke makes use of colorful timbres, and modern dance-rhythms occur in some of his works. A number of his works are ballets commissioned by various professional ensembles. Torke was born in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) and studied at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned degrees in both piano performance and composition. He went on to study composition at Yale, where his teachers included Christopher Rouse and Jacob Druckman. Starting in the early 1980s Torke composed a number of pieces that combined classical form with popular content. Among these works are Bright Blue Music (1985), commissioned by the New York Youth Orchestra and The Yellow Pages (1985), a chamber work inspired by th...