Library
Bios
Joshua Penman
Performances My music has been performed by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne in Montreal, the Pianoduo Post en Mulder in Amsterdam, the String Orchestra of New York City (SoNYC) in New York, All Rivers at Once in Ann Arbor, Gamelan Galak-tika in Boston and Connecticut, Arraymusic in Toronto, and the American Composers Orchestra in New York. In New York, my music has been played in Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Alice Tulley Hall, and Masonic Hall. My electronic music has been played by trance DJs all around Europe. The ensemble Duo46 has released a CD with one of my works, and has performed the piece many times in the US and Europe. As a performer, I have played various Balinese percussion instruments with Gamelan Galak-tika, and mixers and effects processors with the experimental techno band rgb/ifbg and on my own radio show in Amsterdam. Now I mainly focus on vocal performance. I have sung at Tanglewood, in my contemporary music project All Rivers at Once, and with the University of Michigan Contemporary Directions Ensemble and Early Music Ensemble.
Awards I have won awards from ASCAP, BMI, NACUSA, and Yale University, and my music has been selected for the Gaudeamus Festival, the Music at the Anthology Festival, the Forum of the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, and the American Composers Orchestra Reading Sessions (where I was the runner-up for the Whitaker Commission).
Education I received my BA, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in Mathematics and Music from Yale University in 2001. In 1999, I spent a year in Holland enrolled at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, studying with Louis Andriessen. I have completed the Masters of Music degree at the University of Michigan, and am now working on doctorate. I have attended the Tanglewood, Bowdoin, and Music98 summer music festivals. My primary composition teachers have been Louis Andriessen, Betsy Jolas, Michael Daugherty, Evan Chambers, Bright Sheng, Kathryn Alexander, John Halle, and John MacDonald. In addition, I have taken lessons with Sebastian Currier, Aaron Jay Kernis, Matrijn Padding, Joeseph Schwantner, and Luciano Berio.