There is no end to the odd sounds Norman entices from a fairly conventional chamber ensemble. Strings buzzed like insects. Winds burst in with pinpoint dabs of color. - Mark Swed, The Los Angeles Times

Andrew Norman has emerged in recent years as one of the most compelling and interesting musical voices of his generation.  Drawing on an eclectic mix of instrumental sounds and notational practices, his music has been cited in The New York Times for its “daring juxtapositions and dazzling colors” and in the Los Angeles Times for its “Chaplinesque” wit.  Principally a composer of chamber and orchestral music,  Andrew Norman was born in the Midwest and raised in central California.  He studied the piano and viola before attending the University of Southern California and Yale.  His teachers include Donald Crockett, Stephen Hartke, Martin Bresnick, Aaron Kernis, Ingram Marshall and Martha Ashleigh.  A lifelong enthusiast for all things architectural, Norman writes music that is often inspired by forms and textures he encounters in the visual world. 

The Los Angeles and Royal Liverpool philharmonics, Grand Rapids and Oakland East Bay symphonies, Minnesota Orchestra and Aspen Music Festival have commissioned orchestral works from Norman, and his chamber works have been featured at major festivals and venues throughout North America and Europe. Norman was a fellow at the American Academies in Rome and Berlin and he has held residencies with the Des Moines Symphony and with Young Concert Artists. During the 2010-11 season, Norman composed a Theremin concerto for Carolina Eyck while serving as composer-in-residence for the city of Heidelberg. Currently resident composer at the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, a post he will hold for two years, Norman begins his three-year tenure as Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra composer-in-residence in 2012-13. Future projects include commissions from the Berlin Philharmonic Foundation, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Sound Investment, Calder Quartet, pianist Jeremy Denk, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW, among many others. 

Norman enjoys helping people of all ages explore and create music and considers this an important part of his life as a musician.  He has participated in numerous educational residencies throughout America, working especially with children to collectively make and appreciate abstract instrumental music.

Norman lives and works in Brooklyn and his music is published exclusively worldwide by Schott Music.

• Website: www.andrewnormanmusic.com