Sky Macklay (born 1988) is an American composer of concert music and an oboist. She was winner of the Leo Kaplan Award (the top prize in the

Morton Gould Morton Gould (December 10, 1913February 21, 1996) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist. Biography Morton Gould was born in Richmond Hill, New York, United States. He was recognized early as a child prodigy with abilities ...

Young Composer Award of the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

) in 2013 and 2016. Born in Waseca, Minnesota, she completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from

Columbia University in the City of New York Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatta ...

in 2018. She also holds degrees from The

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

( MM) and Luther College ( BA). She is a founding member of

Ghost Ensemble Ghost Ensemble is a New York-based experimental new music ensemble composed of flute, oboe, accordion, percussion, harp, viola, cello, two contrabasses, and conductor. Frequently commissioning new repertoire that merges classically notated music ...

.Carey, Christian. 24 Jun 2017. "Ghost Ensemble: We Who Walk Again (LP Review)" http://www.sequenza21.com/2018/06/ghost-ensemble-we-who-walk-again-lp-review/ Sequenza21. 24 Jun 2017. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. Previously, she served as Assistant Professor of Composition at Valparaiso University.Valparaiso University. "Sky Macklay" https://www.valpo.edu/music/about/faculty/sky-macklay/ and serves as Lecturer of Composition at the Peabody Institute.Peabody Institute. "Sky Macklay" https://peabody.jhu.edu/faculty/sky-macklay/

Biography

Early life and musical education

Macklay started off playing oboe at the age of 10, and was an active participant in choir growing up. She also picked up the piano around the age of 12. By the time she was in her late teens, 17 or 18, she started composing. This focus on composition was later formalized during her sophomore year of undergraduate studies for her BA degree at Luther College. Alongside her interest in composition, she did continue on with her studies in oboe, even through her MM degree at The University of Memphis. Under the mentorship of

George Lewis George Lewis may refer to: Entertainment and art * George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia * George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist * George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexican ...

Georg Friedrich Haas Georg Friedrich Haas (born 16 August 1953 in Graz, Austria) is an Austrian composer. In a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, pieces by Haas received the most votes (49), and his composition ''in vain'' (20 ...

, and

Fred Lerdahl Alfred Whitford (Fred) Lerdahl (born March 10, 1943, in Madison, Wisconsin) is the Fritz Reiner Professor Emeritus of Musical Composition at Columbia University, and a composer and music theorist best known for his work on musical grammar and cogn ...

, she completed her DMA degree in composition from Columbia University in the City of New York.

Pedagogy

Selected compositions

Macklay has published a complete list of her works. These include: * ''Dissolving Bands'' (2012), an abstract orchestral reflection on the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, commissioned by the Lexington Symphony and

The Walden School The Walden School is an organization which runs summer music education programs. It is based in Dublin, New Hampshire and has a year-round office in San Francisco, California. Since its founding in 1972, the Walden School has operated the Young ...

for the tercentennial of

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was firs ...

. The title is a reference to the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...

. It won the 2013 Leo Kaplan Award, the top prize in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. * ''Harmonibots'' (2015), a sonic and kinetic installation of inflatable harmonica-playing robots commissioned by the International Alliance for Women in Music. * ''Many Many Cadences'' (2016), a string quartet for

Spektral Quartet Spektral Quartet is a string quartet based in Chicago comprising Clara Lyon (violin), Theo Espy (violin), Doyle Armbrust (viola) and Russell Rolen (cello). It is the ensemble-in-residence at the University of Chicago's Department of Music, where ...

, Macklay's second ASCAP Award recipient and a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nominee.Valparaiso University. "Sky Macklay" https://www.valpo.edu/music/about/faculty/sky-macklay/ Web. 24 Jan. 2020.

References

External links

Official web site

Official YouTube Channel

Official SoundCloud Channel
Living people 1988 births American women classical composers American classical composers 21st-century classical composers People from Waseca, Minnesota 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century women composers {{US-composer-stub