Vijay Iyer's musical interests are as wide-ranging as his piano talents are singular. Since debuting in the mid '90s, Iyer has maintained a relentless pace of innovation, forging close-working relationships with avant-garde greats like Roscoe Mitchell and inspired upstarts like Marcus Gilmore. Drawing influence from his degree in physics, South Asian heritage, activism and deep knowledge of improvisational music, Iyer's growing discography is already peppered with landmark recordings. In 2013, he earned a MacArthur Genius Grant and was later appointed to a professorship at Harvard.