Joey Roukens organically integrate elements from highly diverse influences and aesthetics – including the rhythmic energy of early Stravinsky, the late-Romanticism of Mahler and Sibelius, the ethereal qualities of Debussy, Ravel and Takemitsu, American mavericks like Ives and Nancarrow, post-minimalism (John Adams), but also certain kinds of pop music and jazz.  Joey can be unstoppable: in the same year he wrote Awaken for Mikrokosmos, he wrote a symphony, a requiem and a ballet.

Joey:
“My music often sounds like a spontaneous musical stream, even though my composing does involve a great deal of deliberate organization and construction. In the end, however, I always let my ear, my intuition, and not some kind of rational compositional system decide whether the notes are good or not.”