Bryce Dessner is a Brooklyn based composer, guitarist, and curator who is also a member of the Grammy Award-nominated band The National. Their most recent release, Trouble Will Find Me (2013), debuted at #3 on both the US Billboard Chart and the UK Albums Chart. In addition to his work with The National, Dessner has made a name for himself as an acclaimed composer, working with some of the world’s most creative and respected musicians and artists, including songwriters Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, Antony Hegarty and Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo; composers Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Nico Muhly and Michael Gordon; contemporary ensembles Kronos Quartet and eighth blackbird; and visual artists Matthew Ritchie and Ragnar Kjartansson. Dessner’s recent commissions include a new piece for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which will be premiered by the LA Phil, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in May 2015 ; Reponse Lutoslawski for the National Audiovisual Institute of Poland, which will be premiered by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Warsaw this fall; Black Mountain Songs for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, which will premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in November 2014; 40 Canons for the Grammy Award winning Kronos Quartet, which premiered at the Barbican Concert Hall in London last spring; Music For Wood and Strings for So Percussion, which premiered at Carnegie Hall in November 2013; and Murder Ballades a work inspired by American folk music and written for the multiple Grammy-winning new-music ensemble eighth blackbird. Murder Ballades is also used as the score for a ballet of the same name, choreographed by Justin Peck for the LA Dance Project. Important past compositions by Dessner include three string quartets for Kronos Quartet (Aheym, Tenebre and Little Blue Something); Tour Eiffel for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus; St. Carolyn by the Sea for the American Composers Orchestra and Muziekcentrum Eindhoven; The Lincoln Shuffle, a cycle of pieces which premiered at Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Library for Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial; and Propolis, cocomposed with David Sheppard and Evan Ziporyn for a sound pavilion by Matthew Ritchie. Other noteworthy works include a collaborative song cycle with Sufjan Stevens and Nico Muhly called “Planetarium” and “The Long Count,” an origins story told in music and video commissioned by BAM for the 2009 Next Wave Festival. The first recordings of Dessner’s compositions, performed by the Kronos Quartet, were released in 2013 by Anti- Records. The album, "Aheym," features his compositions Tenebre, Little Blue Something, Tour Eiffel, and Aheym. In March 2014 Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Classics released "St Carolyn By the Sea; Suite from There Will Be Blood," an album featuring three of Dessner’s compositions – the title work, Lachrimae and Raphael – performed by the Copenhagen Philharmonic under conductor André de Ridder. The recordings include performances on guitar by Dessner and his twin brother, Aaron. The album presents Dessner’s works alongside music by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. Dessner is the founder and artistic director of the acclaimed MusicNOW Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, which will present its tenth season this March. He is also a co-founder and owner of the Brassland record label, which is home to a diverse group of artists. In
addition, Bryce and his brother Aaron produced an extensive AIDS charity compilation, “Dark was the Night,” for the Red Hot Organization. The ambitious record features exclusive recordings and collaborations from a long list of artists including David Byrne, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Sharon Jones, Cat Power, Grizzly Bear, My Morning Jacket and Spoon. “Dark was the Night” has raised over 2 million dollars for AIDS charities. Dessner is a graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Music. He currently serves on the board of The Kitchen in New York City and is a composer-in-residence at Muziekgebouw Eindhoven.