Katherine Balch
“As a composition teacher, I strive to nurture each student’s inner ear. I want students to leave lessons feeling excited, curious, and energized to create. This energy might come from being challenged in their musical presuppositions, being exposed to new repertoire, or being encouraged by the attention to detail I’ve lent to their ideas and materials. Effective teaching requires knowledge and command of a given subject, but also transcends specialization. The best teachers in my life have made me a more critical listener and thinker, more self-aware and more compassionate. They have improved my musicianship with their expertise, but also with their example of introspection, curiosity, and diligence. As a teaching artist, I aspire to continue this paradigm.”
Katherine Balch
Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “some kind of musical Thomas Edison—you can just hear her tinkering around in her workshop, putting together new sounds and textural ideas,” composer Katherine Balch is interested in the intimacy of quotidian objects, intricate textural lyricism, and natural processes. A collector of aural delights, found sounds are often at the heart of her work, which ranges from acoustic to mixed media and installation.
Balch’s work has been commissioned and performed by such celebrated ensembles as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Talea, and the symphony orchestras of Tokyo, Darmstadt, Minnesota, Oregon, Albany, Indianapolis, and Dallas. Her music has been featured at IRCAM’s ManiFeste, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in England, Festival MANCA in France, the Suntory Foundation for the Arts Summer Festival, and Takefu International Music Festival in Japan, and the Aspen, Norfolk, Santa Fe, and Tanglewood music festivals in the United States.
The recipient of the 2020-2021 Elliott Carter Rome Prize, Balch was the California Symphony’s 2017-2020 composer-in-residence and held the 2017-2019 William B. Butz Composition Chair at Young Concert Artists. Other recognitions include awards and grants from Wigmore Hall, ASCAP, BMI, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Chamber Music America, the Barlow Foundation, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Civitella Ranieri, and Wigmore Hall. Her music is published exclusively worldwide by Schott Music.
Balch is an Assistant Professor, Composition at the Yale School of Music. She served previously on the faculties of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, The New School, the Preparatory Division of the Bard College Conservatory of Music, and the Walden School.
Balch earned a doctor of musical arts degree Columbia University, a master of music degree from the Yale School of Music, and a dual bachelor of arts/bachelor of music degree from Tufts University and the New England Conservatory.
