Composer Marcos Balter was born in 1974 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Regarded by critics as "colorful, inventive (...) with vibrant sonics (New Music Connoisseur, May 2005), his works have been performed and broadcasted in North and South America, Europe, and Asia in venues such as the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Teatro Colon, Sala Villa-Lobos, Seiji Osawa Hall, Paul Hall, DePaul Concert Hall, Pick Steiger Concert Hall, Slee Hall, and Pepsico Theater. Past awards and honors include the Leonard Bernstein Fellowship at the 2005 Tanglewood Music Center, a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship from Lawrence University (2005-2007), performances at the MusicX, June in Buffalo, Panorama da Musica Contemporânea, and Bounding Board festivals, first prizes at the 2007 William Karlins Composition Competition, the 2004 Douglas T. Faricy Composition Competition, the 2002 Jonathan Durington Composition Competition, the 1997 Nordan Young Artists Competition, and being a regional winner and national finalist at the 2005 ASCAP/SCI Composition Competition.His music has been performed by ensembles and soloists such as the International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble SurPlus, Brave New Works, The New Fromm Players, Duo Diorama, and violist Nadia Sirota, among others.His primary composition teachers were Augusta Read Thomas, Amy Williams, and Jay Alan Yim. He has also taken lessons in festivals and master classes in Europe and North America with John Adams, Louis Andriessen, George Benjamin, Pierre Boulez, Martin Bresnick, Bright Cheng, Michael Gandolfi, Betsy Jolas, Oliver Knussen, Christian Lauba, Steve Mackey, Tristan Murail, Bernard Rands, Wolfgang Rihm, Frederic Rzewski, Kaija Saariaho, and Chen Yi, and others.He currently divides his time between his home in Chicago, Illinois and in Pennsylvania where he is a Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of Pittsburgh.For more information and audio samples, please visit www.marcosbalter.com .
