Katherine Balch
Katherine Balch (b.1991) writes music that seeks to capture the intimate details of existence through sound. Her music has been commissioned and performed by the Minnesota and Albany Symphony Orchestras, Ensemble Intercontemporain, International Contemporary Ensemble, FLUX Quartet, Contemporaneous, the New York Youth Symphony and wildUp, among others, in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall and Wiener Konzerthaus. Katherine is currently the composer-in-residence for the California Symphony, and recently joined the roster of Young Concert Artists, Inc., where she is the 2017-2019 composer-in-residence. The 2017-18 season includes premiers by the Tokyo and California Symphony Orchestras and a residency with the MANCA festival in Nice, France.
Recent recognitions include fellowships from IRCAM Manifeste, Fontainebleau, Aspen, Santa Fe, and Norfolk music festivals, and awards from ASCAP, BMI, the International Society of Bassists, Fontainebleau, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Katherine completed her M.M. at Yale School of Music where she studied with Aaron Kernis, Chris Theofanidis and David Lang, and her B.A./B.M. in the Tufts University/New England Conservatory double degree program, where she studied history and political science at Tufts and composition at NEC. She recently began her D.M.A. at Columbia University, where she studies with Georg Haas and Fred Lerdahl. Passionate about education, Katherine is on faculty at Bard-College Conservatory Prep and the Walden School. When not making or listening to music, she can be found baking, collecting leaves, and playing with her cat, Zarathustra. www.katherinebalch.com