Andrew Byrne is a Australian composer based in New York, who has written works for film, dance, theater, and the concert hall. His music, which always betrays a fascination with polyrhythm, is influenced by American experimental music and non-Western music traditions and has been described as "sounding like a weird and wonderful otherworldly folk music."

Over the last decade, Byrne has developed a number of different types of pieces, all informed by polyrhythmic techniques: "mobile" pieces (such as Whispers and Cries, 2008, Lines Towards Another Century, 2006/08, Fandango Fantasy in F, 2009) featuring modular structures for variable performers; "landscape" pieces (White Bone Country, 2006) in which sonic environments are evoked through static polyrhythmic processes; "folk music" pieces (A Ringing World for solo percussion, 2009), which suggest a fictional folk music. Byrne tends to write for non–traditional ensembles like percussion instruments, piano and other keyboards, voices, and electronics.

Over the last twelve months, performances of his works include Bach in the Barrio by L’arsenale in Treviso Italy, Book of Actions by Astra in Melbourne, A Ringing World by Either/Or in New York, Whispers and Cries by Astra and Speak Percussion in Melbourne, Ascension by Brake Drum Percussion in Edinburgh (UK), Treviso, Padova, and Trieste (Italy), among others.

White Bone Country, a recording of Byrne’s music for piano and percussion was released on New World Records in August 2009. Recordings of his music can also be found on Broadway Boogie (Move Records) by pianist Michael Kieran Harvey, In These Great Times (the ByrneBand), and Threnody (Astra Records).

In June 2009, the most recent realization of Lines Towards Another Century, an ongoing collaboration with the visual artist Tom Nicholson, was presented in Parco delle Rimembranze in Venice with Media Art Bath and L'arsenale. Earlier versions of Lines Towards Another Century took place at the Holburne Museum in Bath and at Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. [in]visible voices, a documentary by filmmaker Gideon Boaz, for which Byrne wrote the soundtrack, has been shown on Israeli cable television and has been screened at film festivals in Canada, US, and Brazil.

Byrne's music has also been performed by MATA Festival in Brooklyn, Michael Kieran Harvey (Aus.), Ethos Percussion (NY), Lark String Quartet (NY), Speculum Musicae (NY), Elsyian Quartet (Bath, UK), the Riverside Symphony (NY), the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble (Colorado), Open Systems Festival (Germany), Topology (Aus.), DanceWorks (Aus.), Seduction Opera (Aus.) among others.

Byrne is also very much involved with concert programming and currently works on the artistic programming staff at Carnegie Hall with responsibility for large-scale festivals. He has also organized the Synagogue Space Music Series in New York with John Zorn, the Michael Gordon Ensemble among others; Opera Raw for Chamber Made Opera in Melbourne; Speculum Musicae in New York.

Updated: August 2009