York was born in 1958 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and grew up in Virginia. He received degrees from James Madison University in Virginia and the University of Southern California. He studied in Spain, where he met classical guitarist John Williams. Williams has performed and recorded compositions by York. In 1989, York released his debut solo album, Perfect Sky. He was a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet until 2006. York is the only alumnus in USC's history to have received their Distinguished Alumni Award twice, in 1997 as a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and again in 2003 for his solo music career. He played lute with the USC Early Music Ensemble. In addition to his solo career, recording and performing his own compositions, York's recent collaborations include projects with Andy Summers, W. A. Mathieu, Dai Kimura, and Mitsuko Kado. York's tour schedule has included concerts in thirty countries. York's compositions and arrangements for guitar have been performed and recorded by guitarists John Williams, Christopher Parkening, Karin Schaupp and Sharon Isbin.
Accomplishments
York has over 50 works published for guitar: solo, duo, trio, quartet, and ensemble. He has appeared in three DVDs, has recorded or appeared as soloist on more than ten albums, and has published a three-volume work on jazz for classical guitarists. York has played on ten recordings with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, including the Grammy Award-winning Guitar Heroes. His solo albums include: Perfect Sky, Dénouement, Into Dark, California Breeze, Hauser Sessions, Yamour, Home and The Equations of Beauty. He also released five band tracks, Lotus Eaters,Stratojee and Land Below Waves, in 2018, and DissFunkShun and Pay the Piper, in 2019. Andrew York is a member of the Triple Nine Society and his article Bowling Balls and Binary Switches was published in their journal Vidya in December 2016. He became a voting member at the Recording Academy in 2018. Regarding Dénouement, Jim Ferguson stated that the five original suites that make up the recording "demonstrate exceptional compositional breadth, commanding instrumental abilities, and rich tone. Rife with folk, jazz, and ancient influences, the material ranges from challenging to simple yet highly musical."
