Visiting Artists
Each year, the Composition Department brings internationally recognized soloists and ensembles to campus to read and perform student works in concert. We also host composers and conductors who offer lectures and master classes to our students.
Visiting Performers
Composition majors have many opportunities to perform on campus, but we also invite professional ensembles and soloists each semester to read and perform or premiere student works.
Recent visitors include the following, among others:
- Sound Icon
- JACK Quartet
- Tony Arnold
- Mivos String Quartet
- PubliQuartet
- Loadbang
- New Thread Saxophone Quartet
- String Noise
- The City of Tomorrow
- Margaret Lancaster
Visiting Composers and Conductors
The composition faculty is world renowned, but students also have the opportunity to learn from visiting composers and conductors. Each year, Berklee hosts some of the most well-known composers in our field for one-on-one master classes, public interviews, private lessons, and workshops that give students a glimpse into what it's like to work as a professional in this field. By giving students access to these professionals, we create an environment that develops well-rounded composers, prepared to be active members of the industry.
Recent visitors include the following, among others:
- David Lang
- Maria Schneider
- Anthony Davis
- DuYun
- George Lewis
- Chaya Czernowin
- Anna Thorvaldsdottir
- Susan Ciani
- Anthony Coleman
- Sean Shepherd
- Marcos Balter
- Michael Starobin
The Edmundson Visiting Artist in Composition Program
George Lewis conducting a master class with composition students
Invited composers include Maria Schneider (2017), George Lewis (2018–2019), and David Lang (2019–2020). Lang spent three days offering composition majors master classes on their music in addition to giving an interview about his composing process and presenting his own music.
Listen to Lang discuss recent work during a visit with composition students:
About David Lang
David Lang is one of America's most sought-after and vibrant composers today. Many of his works resemble each other only in the fierce intelligence and clarity of vision that inform their structures. His catalogue is extensive, and his opera, orchestra, chamber, and solo works are by turns ominous, ethereal, urgent, hypnotic, unsettling, and emotionally direct. Lang is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, and his work is regularly performed by many leading orchestras and new music ensembles such as the BBC Symphony and New York Philharmonic. His music is often used for dance by luminaries such as Twyla Tharp, and he has scored a number of feature-length films, including (Untitled).
You can find additional upcoming visiting artist events listed on the Composition Events page.