Courtney Bryan (composer)

Bryan was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She obtained her Bachelor of Music from Oberlin College (2004),[2] her Master of Music from Rutgers University (2007),[3] and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Columbia University (2014),[4] where her advisor was composer and trombonist George Lewis.[5]

Bryan is the Albert and Linda Mintz Professor of Music at Newcomb College in the School of Liberal Arts, Tulane University and a Creative Partner with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2018, Bryan received the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. She was also a 2018 Hermitage Fellow, 2019 Bard College Freehand Fellow, 2019-20 recipient of the Samuel Barber Rome Prize in Music Composition, 2020 United States Artists Fellow, and 2020-21 Civitella Ranieri Fellowship recipient.

Bryan's work combines influences from jazz and gospel traditions.[6]

Bryan is an assistant professor in the Newcomb College department of music at Tulane University. Additionally, she serves as composer-in-residence for the Jacksonville Symphony.[5][7]

Bryan’s work has been presented in many major and notable venues, arts organizations, and institutions including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Miller Theatre, The Stone, Roulette Intermedium, La MaMa Experimental Theatre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Blue Note Jazz Club, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Bethany and Abyssinian Baptist Churches, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and Ojai Music Festival. Her compositions have been performed by the London Sinfonietta, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (where she currently serves as Creative Partner), Jacksonville Symphony (Mary Carr Patton Composer-In-Residence 2018-2020), Chicago Sinfonietta, Chicago Symphony MusicNOW with Quince vocal ensemble, American Composers Orchestra, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Aperture Duo, Duo Noire, Ekmeles, Ensemble Pi, New York Jazzharmonic, Spektral String Quartet, Talea Ensemble, and Jennifer Koh. Her artistic and intellectual collaborations have included works with visual artists Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Steffani Jemison, Abigail DeVille, Kara Lynch, Lake Simons, Amy Bryan, and Alma Bryan Powell, director Patricia McGregor, writers Sharan Strange, Matthew D. Morrison, and Ashon Crawley, and musicians Helga Davis, Brandee Younger, and Damian Norfleet. She has two recordings, Quest for Freedom (2007) and This Little Light of Mine (2010) and has a third recording in progress, Sounds of Freedom.

Bryan has given music workshops at various colleges and universities such as Princeton University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Berklee College of Music, The California Institute of the Arts, The University of South Carolina, Brown University, University of California, San Diego, DePaul University, and Xavier University of Louisiana. She has also participated in and helped design programs that guide and encourage young people to improvise, compose, and work with music technology, through programs with Columbia University, the Jacksonville Symphony, Carnegie Hall, and other artistic collaborations.

2018: Alpert Awards in the Arts.[8][9]

2018: Hermitage Fellow

2019: Bard College Freehand Fellow

2019-20: Samuel Barber Rome Prize in musical composition.[10]

2020: United States Artists Fellow

2020-21: Civitella Ranieri Fellowship

2007: Quest for Freedom

2010: This Little Light of Mine

In Progress: Sounds of Freedom