Lyle Chan

Lyle Chan is an Australian composer, known for his unique approach of writing cumulative works with only one work per genre. His AIDS Memoir Quartet chronicles his years as an HIV/AIDS activist at the height of the epidemic in Australia. John Cage was a major influence on his work, and he is regarded as an authority on the musician. Early life and education Lyle Chan received a Bachelor of Physics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He studied music with Conrad Pope, J. Peter Burkholder and the Pro Arte String Quartet. He was Artists & Repertoire Manager for the Australian record label ABC Classics for over ten years. Musical influences Chan has acknowledged John Cage and Morton Feldman among his primary musical influences and is himself acknowledged as an authority on Cage. For the composer’s centenary in 2012 he was invited by the John Cage Trust and the Sydney Opera House to deliver a lecture in that landmark building on Cage’s seminal “silent” piece 4′33″. Timed to last 43 minutes and 30 seconds, the lecture was called “probing” by Limelight magazine. “It took four years for Cage to write the piece, to master the courage and rationale behind it”, he said. Works Chan has