Marcos Balter (born April 1, 1974) is a Brazilian

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and the Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University.

Life and professional career

Balter began his music studies at age five 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 Almeida may refer to: People *Almeida (surname) *Almeida Garrett (1799–1854), Portuguese poet, playwright, novelist and politician *Laurindo Almeida (1917–1995), Brazilian jazz musician Places *Almeidas Province, province in Colombia * Almeid ...

and pianist Linda Bustani. He moved to the United States in 1995 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.Composer's Official Website
Retrieved 05 November 2011. His works have been programmed by prominent music organizations including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW Series,Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW Series (October 4, 2010)
Retrieved 05 November 2011.

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

, New World Symphony, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, the Baryshnikov Arts Center,
Baryshnikov Arts Center, calendar of events. Retrieved 05 November 2011. and the Fromm Music Series at Harvard University. Harvard University, news letter, Winter 2009. Retrieved 05 November 2011. Past honors include the American Academy of Arts and Letters Music Award, commissions from Meet the Composer, Meet the Composer Studio: Marcos Balter. Retrieved 05 November 2011. Chamber Music America, Chamber Music America: programs: past recipients. Retrieved 05 November 2011. the Fromm Music Foundation, and the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, Art Institute of Chicago: calendar of events. Retrieved 05 November 2011. as well as fellowships from the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...

, Tanglewood Music Center (Leonard Bernstein Fellowship),
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center, press release (July 14, 2005). Retrieved 05 November 2011. Lawrence University, and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation. Balter is the Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University ( New York City). Prior to that, he was a Professor of Music at UC San Diego from 2020 to 2022, an Associate Professor of Music Theory/Composition at Montclair State University from 2014 to 2020,Montclair State - College of the Arts - Theory/Composition.
Retrieved August 1, 2015 Director of Music Composition Studies at

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...

from 2009 to 2014,
Faculty profile, Columbia College Chicago. Retrieved 05 November 2011. Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of Pittsburgh in 2008-09,
University of Pittsburgh, Music Department: Visiting Faculty Composer Marcos Balter. Retrieved 05 November 2011. Visiting Professor at Northwestern University in 2010, and Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018.

Musical style

Balter's eclectic and unique compositional voice draws from several sources ranging from Spectral Music to

Postminimalism Postminimalism is an art term coined (as post-minimalism) by Robert Pincus-Witten in 1971Chilvers, Ian and Glaves-Smith, John, ''A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art'', second edition (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. ...

, 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, flautist Claire Chase, 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),
The Chicago Tribune, review by John Von Rhein, 05 June 2011. Retrieved 05 November 2011. "surrealistic" ( The New York Times),
The New York Times, review by Allan Kozinn, 27 November 2009.Retrieved 05 November 2011. and "a virtuosic equilibrium of colliding particles" ( Boston Globe).
Boston Globe, review by Matthew Guerrieri, 24 February 2009. Retrieved 05 November 2011. His catalogue includes works for solo instruments,

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a genre of popular and Western art music in which composers use technology to manipulate the timbres of acoustic sounds, sometimes by using audio signal processing, such as reverb or harmonizing, on acoustical instrumen ...

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, and

orchestral work An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balter, Marcos Brazilian composers Living people Brazilian music Tanglewood Music Center alumni 1974 births