Recently deemed “a composer with an enviable knack for crafting moody, strikingly beautiful works” (Time Out New York), Sarah Kirkland Snider writes music of direct expression and vivid narrative. Her works, which strive for an indifference to boundaries of style or genre, have been commissioned and performed internationally by artists including ACME, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Colin Currie, Dinosaur Annex, Firebird Ensemble, Hebrides Ensemble, the Knights, Newspeak, Psappha, Signal, Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), and yMusic, and also commissioned by the Getty Center, the American Composers Forum/Jerome Foundation, and Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center. Heard in a diverse array of venues ranging from classical (Carnegie Hall) to experimental (The Kitchen) to rock (The Bell House), her music has also been featured in festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, the Ecstatic Music Festival, the Colorado Music Festival, theBang On a Can Summer Festival, the MATA Festival, June in Buffalo, the Look & Listen Festival, and the Keys to the Future Contemporary Piano Music Festival. In addition to her work as a composer, Sarah is a passionate advocate for new music in New York and beyond. From 2001-2007 she co-curated the Look & Listen Festival, a new music series set in modern art galleries. Since 2007 she has served as Co-Director, along with William Brittelle and Judd Greenstein, of New Amsterdam Records, an independent record label and artists’ service organization recently called “the focal point of the post-classical scene,” (Time Out New York) and “emblematic of an emerging generation” (The New York Times), and praised for “releasing one quality disc after another” (Newsweek). Born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, Sarah has an M.M. and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Musicand a B.A. from Wesleyan University. In 2006 she was a Schumann Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival. The recipient of numerous honors and distinctions for her music, she has studied with Martin Bresnick, Marc-Andre Dalbavie, Justin Dello Joio, Aaron Jay Kernis, Ezra Laderman, David Lang, and Christopher Rouse. She lives in Princeton with her husband, Steven, and their two young children. Her music is published by Good Child Music Publishing.
