Ellen Reid (born 1983) is an American composer[1] originally fromOak Ridge, Tennessee[2] and living and working inNew York City andLos Angeles.[3] Reid is a multi-genre composer whose breadth of work spans classical, opera, sound installations, film scoring, avant-pop, ensemble and choral writing. She is known for herPulitzer Prize-winning opera,p r i s m,[4]Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK[5] and her work with various orchestras around the world, including the albumisomonstrosity.
Reid grew up inOak Ridge, Tennessee.[2] Her first musical experiences were singing in church choir, playing in the school band and taking piano lessons. She started writing music during her time atColumbia College ofColumbia University[6] writing incidental music for plays and scoring films. Her inspiration began with the sounds of her environment. After undergrad, she lived inThailand for two and a half years, working and learning alongside Thai musicians writing operatic works that drew from both Western and Thai traditions.[7] She didn't meet another female composer until age 25.
As a classical composer, Reid's work has been performed by theNew York Philharmonic,Boston Symphony Orchestra,Los Angeles Philharmonic,RTE,American Composers Orchestra,Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, andNational Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and other institutions around the world.[8]
Reid is the first to have been commissioned by and have world premieres by all four of Los Angeles's major classical music institutions:Los Angeles Opera,Los Angeles Philharmonic,L.A. Master Chorale andL.A. Chamber Orchestra in addition to being the only female composer to ever have been performed by all four.[7]
Since 2019, Reid has served as Creative Advisor and Composer-in-Residence for L.A. Chamber Orchestra and presently serves as the Contemporary Music Chair.[9] She is currently the first composer to be in residence with bothAmsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Concert Hall and Concertgebouw Orchestra simultaneously.[10]
In November 2018, Reid began composing her first opera,p r i s m, about a sexual assault survivor's psychological struggles, premiered inLos Angeles and was awarded the 2019Pulitzer Prize for Music.[11] It was also awarded theMusic Critics Association of North America's "Best New Opera Award."[12] Reid is a recipient ofLincoln Center's Emerging Artist Award[13] and she has been one ofMusical America's 30 Professionals of the Year.[14]
In 2020, Reid createdEllen Reid SOUNDWALK, a GPS-enabled work of public art that uses music to illuminate the natural environment by reimagining urban parks as interactive soundscapes.[5]SOUNDWALK premiered inNew York City'sCentral Park, featuring theNew York Philharmonic,[15] and continues to expand to parks around the world, includingLos Angeles'Griffith Park presented by CAPUCLA,[16]London'sRegent's Park &Primrose Hill presented byWellcome Collection[17] andTokyo'sUneo Park presented bySpring Festival. A forthcoming album for SOUNDWALK will be released this season,[18] featuring music written by Reid and collaborators such asKronos Quartet,Philadelphia Orchestra,Shabaka Hutchings andNadia Sirota.[5]
Reid is known for her crackling, lyrical film scores and has worked withA24,Amazon Studios andDuplass Brothers Productions. Reid's first feature film score was for the 2014 drama-mysteryThe Midnight Swim.[19] She also contributed original music to the soundtrack of the 2016 mystery filmBuster's Mal Heart[20] and scoredBirds of Paradise, a film produced byAmazon Studios and released in October 2021. All of these films were written and directed bySarah Adina Smith.
Her work has been featured at film festivals includingSXSW,IFC Center,Outfest,Tribeca Film Festival and theToronto Film Festival.[8] Her concert work was also the inspiration for artistAlex Prager's short filmRun![21]
Reid released the albumisomonstrosity, an avant-pop collaboration with artistsJohan Lenox and Yuga Cohlerl, in 2022.[22] Bringing both her classical and synth-based compositions to the project, the critically acclaimed vocal chamber music album employs the modern production techniques and aesthetics of hip-hop, assembling contributions from a wide array of artists into a satisfying and varied final work.
isomonstrosity features collaborations with645AR,Kacy Hill,Vic Mensa,Danny Brown, andEmpress Of, among others. The album was released on November 18, 2022.[22]
Reid co-founded Luna Composition Lab in 2016 withMissy Mazzoli.[23] The organization provides mentorship, education and resources for young female, non-binary and gender-nonconforming composers ages 13–18. It is the only program of its kind in the United States.[24]
Reid graduated fromOak Ridge High School inOak Ridge, Tennessee. She then graduated fromColumbia College ofColumbia University in 2005[25] and earned her MFA atCalifornia Institute of the Arts; her teachers includedAnne LeBaron,David Rosenboom, andGeorge Lewis.[26]
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