Eyvindur Y. Kang (born 23 June 1971)[1] is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. His primary instrument is viola, but has also performed on violin, tuba, keyboards and others.
Eyvindur Y. Kang was born 23 June 1971 in Corvallis, Oregon, United States.[1] Kang says his family heritage is "a mixture of Icelandic, Danish and Korean."[3] His mother is the Icelandic-Canadian scholar and writer Kristjana Gunnars. He was raised in Canada, Iceland, and the United States, and has since lived and worked in countries ranging from Italy to Iceland.[4] He studied piano and violin as a child, and as a teen played bass guitar in a reggae band.[3]
A recurring theme in his solo work is the "NADE", the meaning of which Kang is not willing to disclose. Referring titles include "Theme from the first NADE", "5th NADE/Invisible Man", "Theme from the sixth NADE" (all three from the debut album 7 NADEs, 1996); "Jewel of the NADE", "Mystic NADE" (both from Theater of Mineral NADEs, 1998) and "Harbour of the NADE" (Virginal Co-ordinates, 2003). His preferred instrument is the viola.[1][4][5]
In 2014 Kang visited Vossajazz in western Norway, for a gig with Bill Frisell's trio Beautiful Dreamers, including drummer Rudy Royston, for the opening concert. During the concert Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen joined in for a tune.[6]
