Keaton Hoy writes music that is both immediate in its expressive quality and ambitious in its structural depth. Long, attractive lines give way to texturally adept contrapuntal interplay - astringent yet brooding, his work often resolves its contradictions in unexpected ways. He is interested in form, in unfolding musical dramaturgy, and in how motivic material evolves under strain. Often lyrical and sometimes witty, his music is rarely in a hurry to explain itself. 

He is currently pursuing a graduate degree at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, studying with Oscar Bettison. Before that, he studied with Lowell Liebermann at Mannes School of Music. During his time at Mannes, he received annual commissions from Pavlina Dokovska for the Mannes Sounds Festival. This resulted in a multi-year collaboration that brought his work to a wide range of performance spaces across New York City.

Formative residencies, including the Catwalk Institute in Catskill, NY, the Mostly Modern Festival (MMF) in Saratoga Springs, NY, and the European American Musical Alliance (EAMA) at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, have shaped his music. These residencies - one in a rural house full of artists, another among a group of musicians dedicated to new works, and another in a Parisian conservatory full of counterpoint - did not much resemble one another, but have exerted a lasting impact on his work. 

Born in Lawrence, Kansas in 2002, Keaton splits his time between composing, playing the piano, and trying to figure out how to make serious music without taking himself so seriously.