KYLE BARTLETT, COMPOSER
Kyle Bartlett began her musical studies as a flutist, later adding drums and then composition. She earned the Bachelor's Diploma in flute performance from the Longy School of Music, and received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Among the prizes and commissions honoring her work are the Independence Foundation Fellowship, the Weiss Prize for chamber music, and commissions from Network for New Music, Concert Artists Guild, the American Philosophical Society, and the Orpheus Institute (Belgium). Her music has been performed by numerous acclaimed soloists and ensembles, including Dan Lippel, E-Mex, Oerknal!, Prism Saxophone Quartet and Champ d’Action. Bartlett is a founding member and President of the acclaimed New York-based new music ensemble, counter)induction.
SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS
- 2010 American Philosophical Society commission/Pew
- 2009
- Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts, for The Lost Child
- 2009
- Subito award, American Composers Forum, Philadelphia chapter
- 2009
- Utah Arts Festival Commissioning Program Finalist
- 2008
- Network for New Music commission, Blossom, ether, singularity, for 2 flutes and 2 contrabasses
- 2004
- Concert Artists Guild commission, Pieces of Eight [Chapter IX] for violin and piano
- 2003
- Orpheus Institute (Belgium) commission for solo guitar
- 2001
- Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Special Opportunity Stipend for Reclining Spiral, multimedia installation, Kelly Writer’s House
EDUCATION
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DEGREES
- 1999 PhD in Music Composition, University of Pennsylvania
- 1995 Bachelor’s Diploma in Flute Performance, Longy School of Music
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DISSERTATION
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Le visage découvert for mezzo-soprano and orchestra
This large-scale work was partially derived from the complex behaviors of branching systems in the organic world and took as its text an ancient Coptic poem from the Nag Hammadi codex, The Thunder: Perfect Mind. -
DISSERTATION ESSAY
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The compositional metaphysic: work, meditation, music
This article addressed the concepts of résistance in Foucault’s writing and counterinduction in that of Paul Feyerabend, and explored their relevance to the creative imagination and compositional work practice. Committee Members: Dr. James Primosch, Dr. Anna Weesner, Mr. Jay Reise and Dr. Christopher Hasty. -
COMPOSITION INSTRUCTION
- George Crumb1/96–6/96 + 1/97–5/97
- James Dillon7/96–8/96 + 1/98–11/98
- James Primosch 8/97–1/98
- Jay Reise 8/96–12/96
- Herman Weiss 8/92–6/95
- Richard Wernick 8/95–12/95
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VIRTUAL COMPOSITION INSTRUCTION
- Edgar Varèse
- Béla Bartók
- Georgy Kurtag
- Iannis Xenakis
- Paul Klee
- Claude Debussy
- Robert Fripp
- Cy Twombly
- Georges Perec
- Italo Calvino
- Beat Furrer
ABOUT THE MUSIC
Kyle Bartlett’s music is informed by a great fascination with timbre and virtuosity, storytelling, and the physicality of performance. Her recent work has focused increasingly on pushing the expressive and formal boundaries of concert music through multiform compositions, theatrical direction, improvisation, and electronics.