Marcos Balter
Encyclopedia
Marcos Balter is a contemporary classical music
composer
.
in 1996 to study music composition at Texas Christian University
and later on at Northwestern University
. His main composition teachers were Augusta Read Thomas
, Amy Williams, and Jay Alan Yim
.
His works have been programmed by prominent music organizations including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
MusicNOW Series, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and the Fromm Music Series at Harvard University
. Past honors include commissions from Meet the Composer
, Chamber Music America, the Fromm Music Foundation, and the Art Institute of Chicago
, as well as fellowships from the Tanglewood Music Center
(Leonard Bernstein Fellowship), Lawrence University
, and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation.
He currently lives in Chicago
, where he is the Director of Music Composition Studies at Columbia College Chicago
. He was a Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of Pittsburgh
in 2008-09, and at Northwestern University
in 2010.
to Post-Minimalism, with a special emphasis on unusual sound colors and complex rhythmic patterns. His music often blurs the boundaries between Modernism
and Post-Modernism, and is embraced by a wide array of musical trends. His works frequently explore the individualistic qualities of the performers for whom they are written. To that extent, his particularly close relationship with artists like the International Contemporary Ensemble
, Ensemble Dal Niente, and violist Nadia Sirota have decidedly shaped his musical language into what critics describe as "a fiercely imaginative palette of instrumental and vocal sounds rare in today's dour, post-classical new music" (The Chicago Tribune), "surrealistic" (The New York Times
), and "a virtuosic equilibrium of colliding particles" (Boston Globe).
His catalogue includes works for solo instruments, electroacoustic music
, chamber music
, and orchestral works
.
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Life and Professional Career
Balter began his music studies at age six at the Conservatório Musical Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was admitted to the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música at age eleven. During his late teenage years, Balter studied privately with composer Almeida Prado and pianist Linda Bustani. He moved to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1996 to study music composition at Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
and later on at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. His main composition teachers were Augusta Read Thomas
Augusta Read Thomas
Augusta Read Thomas is an American composer.Augusta Read Thomas was born in Glen Cove, New York. She attended The Green Vale School and later moved on to St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and then studied composition with Jacob Druckman at Yale University and at the Royal Academy of...
, Amy Williams, and Jay Alan Yim
Jay Alan Yim
Jay Alan Yim is an American composer living in Chicago. During the 1995-96 concert season, he served as Composer/Fellow for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra...
.
His works have been programmed by prominent music organizations including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
MusicNOW Series, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and the Fromm Music Series at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Past honors include commissions from Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer is an American organization founded in 1974 by the composer John Duffy as a project of the New York State Council on the Arts. It seeks to assist composers in making a living through writing music by sponsoring commissioning, residency, education, and audience interaction...
, Chamber Music America, the Fromm Music Foundation, and the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, as well as fellowships from the Tanglewood Music Center
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops designed to provide an intense training and networking experience...
(Leonard Bernstein Fellowship), Lawrence University
Lawrence University
Lawrence University is a selective, private liberal arts college with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence University is known for its rigorous academic environment. Founded in 1847, the first classes were held on November 12, 1849...
, and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation.
He currently lives in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he is the Director of Music Composition Studies at Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is one of the largest art colleges in the United States with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees within 120 undergraduate and graduate programs...
. He was a Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
in 2008-09, and at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in 2010.
Musical Style
Balter's eclectic and unique compositional voice draws from several sources ranging from Spectral MusicSpectral music
Spectral music is a musical composition practice where compositional decisions are often informed by the analysis of sound spectra. Computer-based sound spectrum analysis using tools like DFT, FFT, and spectrograms...
to Post-Minimalism, with a special emphasis on unusual sound colors and complex rhythmic patterns. His music often blurs the boundaries between Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
and Post-Modernism, and is embraced by a wide array of musical trends. His works frequently explore the individualistic qualities of the performers for whom they are written. To that extent, his particularly close relationship with artists like the International Contemporary Ensemble
International Contemporary Ensemble
The International Contemporary Ensemble is a contemporary classical music ensemble of thirty chamber musicians, including strings, woodwinds, piano, percussion, voice and composers, which enables great flexibility of programming...
, Ensemble Dal Niente, and violist Nadia Sirota have decidedly shaped his musical language into what critics describe as "a fiercely imaginative palette of instrumental and vocal sounds rare in today's dour, post-classical new music" (The Chicago Tribune), "surrealistic" (The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
), and "a virtuosic equilibrium of colliding particles" (Boston Globe).
His catalogue includes works for solo instruments, electroacoustic music
Electroacoustic music
Electroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...
, chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, and orchestral works
Orchestral Works
Orchestral Works is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel recorded and released on the Decca label in 1970.-Reception:...
.