Described as “some kind of musical Thomas Edison – you can just hear her tinkering around in her workshop, putting together new sounds and textural ideas” (San Francisco Chronicle), composer Katherine Balch is interested in the intimacy of quotidian objects, found sounds, and natural processes. A collector of aural delights, field recordings are often at the heart of her work, which ranges from acoustic to mixed media and installation.
A recipient of the 2020/21 Rome Prize, Katherine’s work has been commissioned and performed by internationally leading ensembles and presenting organizations including the New York Philharmonic, Ensemble Modern, the London Sinfonietta, Tanglewood, Suntory Summer Arts (Japan), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK) and the symphony orchestras of Tokyo, Darmstadt, Minnesota, Oregon, Albany, Indianapolis, Pittsburg, and Dallas. Her music is published exclusively worldwide by Schott.
Katherine is Assistant Professor of Composition at Yale School of Music and holds a D.M.A. from Columbia University. When not making or listening to music, she can be found building windchimes, free-ranging with her flock of hens, or taking cat naps with her feline sidekick, Zarathustra.