Amy Beth Kirsten (born 1972) is an American composer. She has worked with musical groups and ensembles including the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...

, American Composers Orchestra, and eighth blackbird, and is one of the co-founders of HOWL ensemble.

Life and career

Kirsten began writing songs and choral pieces while learning the piano as a child. She was a vocal and piano major at

Benedictine University Benedictine University is a private Roman Catholic university in Lisle, Illinois. It was founded in 1887 as St. Procopius College by the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey in the Pilsen community on the West Side of Chicago. The insti ...

but only began formal composition training at the age of 30. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

and Master of Music at

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

. Kirsten is most notable for her works for “Composed Theatre”, which is referred by Matthias Rebstock as “the creative process and the performance of pieces that are determined by compositional strategies and, in a broader sense, by compositional thinking.” Her major theatrical works include Savior (2016-2018) and QUIXOTE (2015-2017), and Colombine's Paradise Theatre (2010-2013). Her notable instrumental compositions include Pirouette On a Moon Sliver (2011) for flute solo and Drink Me (2010) for chamber orchestra, both with elements of vocalization. Kirsten currently serves on the composition faculty at

Longy School of Music Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New En ...

and is a visiting professor at the Curtis Institute of Music. She previously served on the faculty of the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

from 2015 to 2017. She has also been the faculty and advisory board of the annual highSCORE festival in Pavia, Italy since 2011.New Music USA, “Amy Beth Kirsten,” Accessed Oct 16, 2019, newmusicusa.org/profile/amybeth-kirsten/.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirsten, Amy Beth 1972 births Living people American women composers 21st-century American composers Benedictine University alumni Peabody Institute alumni Roosevelt University alumni Longy School of Music of Bard College faculty 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century women composers