Erol Gurol  is a composer, theorist and pianist currently living in New York City.  He received Masters Degrees in Composition and Theory from Mannes College, The New School for Music where he studied with Keith Fitch, David Loeb, Robert Cuckson and Carl Schachter.

His compositions reflect an ambition to form an individual voice by combining a variety of styles and traditions.  He draws particular inspiration from the music of Debussy and Lutoslawski, as well as from the music of his Turkish heritage.  In May 2012, Cantori New York will premiere his new composition at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City - written for chorus, two pianos and celesta, and inspired by Medieval Turkish love poetry.

Night Rhapsody,    his latest composition, is a free-form tone poem for 16 clarinets.  Slowly-shifting blocks of harmony combine with rhapsodic melodic gestures to describe a vision or a dream.  A constantly evolving and mounting tension builds gradually, leading to several outburst with widely-contrasting moods, capturing the either miraculous or terrifying potential of the mind to subvert reality.  

Night Rhapsody    received its world premiere on August 7, 2011 at the International Clarinet Association's Clarinetfest 2011 in Northridge, CA.  It will be performed by the Los Angeles Clarinet Choir, conducted by Margaret Thornhill.