Eric N. King uses his middle initial to distinguish himself from the other Eric Kings who write music on the web, as well as professional athletes and Hollywood actors with that name, and also other various entrepreneurs and executives.

Eric first started writing melodies at the age of six, the same year he started piano lessons and first fell in love with classical music.  The composers who have most inspired him then and now are Chopin, Grieg, and Rachmaninov, although he freely acknowledges that Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven are, without question, the three greatest.

In addition to learning other instruments, he studied music composition and theory with Bernice Ness, a former pianist for the Minnesota Orchestra, and Dr. Desiderius Klempay, a well-known local organist and teacher.  However, being grieved by what seemed to him as the dissonant and frequently tuneless state of classical composition at the time, he saw no place in it for a melody writer like himself, and turned towards other genres.

For most of his life, Eric has primarily been a songwriter, being a melody specialist who almost always writes his music before words.  Most of his creative work has been performed in various venues in the greater Twin Cities area of Minnesota.
 

In 2014, he recorded a solo CD featuring his original piano arrangements of mostly familiar Christmas melodies. Hundreds now have the CD, with still a 100% approval rating. It also made Eric one of the most frequently played instrumental soloists on the Minnesota Public Radio network’s holiday stream this last season.
 

Eric has also drawn inspiration from being in one of the best places in America to hear live orchestral and chamber works.  He has been one of the most frequent attenders of classical music events in Minnesota.  If there is truth to the idea that reading the great works of literature can improve one's mind, vocabulary, and ability to articulate and speak clearly, then there must be a musical equivalent.  In Eric's case, going continually to hear the works of great composers played LIVE by world-class musicians has had a profound impact on his musical vocabulary and creativity.

 

However, after years of attending concerts, he also saw that many of the new works being premiered seemed to be leaving some audience members weary of what one patron described as "music where you can't tell if they're playing the right notes".  

 

Eric was sensing a hunger from both audiences and musicians for more new pieces with an emphasis on melody.  He decided to return to his first love of classical music, and began writing chamber works for various instruments.  The resulting responses were highly positive from orchestra musicians and audiences, and new requests came quickly.

 

Starting in 2016, members of the Twin Cities' top orchestras started to play world premieres of Eric's works.  Then, in March of 2018, Eric presented the first concert consisting entirely of his original short classical compositions and arrangements, including eight world premieres.  In November of 2019, Eric was given the honor of being a first American composer to receive an official premiere by Minnesota's first couple of classical music, Minnesota Orchestra Principal Conductor Osmo Vanska, and his wife, Minnesota Orchestra Concertmaster Erin Keefe.
 

Today, Eric has a number of projects in the works, including concertos, symphonies, operas, and musicals.  Some of his works may take years to complete, but every one of them will represent Eric’s best efforts to represent his greatest talent, namely writing memorable and hummable melodies.