The Curtis Institute Names Four Composers to its Faculty
By David SalazarThe Curtis Institute has appointed four composers to its faculty.
The composers include Nick DiBerardino, Amy Beth Kirsten, Jonathan Bailey Holland, and Steven Mackey. They will begin their respective tenures during the 2022-23 school year.
The quartet will all work with Curtis students and current faculty member Richard Danielpour to develop the composition through lessons, seminars, and coachings.
“I am very proud that Jonathan, Amy Beth, and Steve, all fantastic composers and educators, are joining us at Curtis,” said DiBerardino, who was appointed Curtis’ director of composition students and Ensemble 2020-21, in an official press statement. “It is an honor to call them—and Dr. Danielpour—my colleagues. Our composition students will benefit greatly from the diversity of musical perspectives they offer, and their wealth of experience working with the world’s leading ensembles will be of tremendous value not only to our composers, but also to our performance students and conducting fellows.”
DiBerardino is also a Rhodes Scholar whose music has been performed with such organizations as Symphony Tacoma, Sandbox Percussion, the New College Choir, arx duo, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Music From Angel Fire, and saxophonist Matthew Levy. Residencies include those for the Intimacy of Creativity Festival at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Avaloch Farm Music Institute, and Hidden Valley. He also founded the first laptop orchestra in England.
Bailey Holland’s work has been performed with such organizations as New World Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Eighth Blackbird, Awadagin Pratt, Roomful of Teeth, Odyssey Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Network for New Music, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Emmanuel Music, and Plymouth Music Series, among others.
Kirsten’s work is known for her multimedia theatrical collaborations where she has cast herself as a composer, poet, filmmaker, vocalist, and director.
Finally, Mackey has written a plethora of guitar music as well as the short chamber opera “Moon Tea.”