
Katherine Balch
Upcoming Performances
About Katherine Balch
The music of composer Katherine Balch (b. 1991) captures the magic of everyday sounds, inviting audiences into a sonic world characterized by imagination, discovery, and a rich diversity of styles. Balch is often inspired by literature, nature, and science, aptly reflected in the San Francisco Chronicle’s description of her as “some kind of musical Thomas Edison – you can just hear her tinkering around in her workshop, putting together new sounds and textural ideas.”
Her facility in elevating ordinary sounds through large-scale orchestration and dramatic narrative arcs has led to commissions and performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, and the symphony orchestras of Boston, Minnesota, Oregon, Albany, Indianapolis, and Tokyo. She has been featured on IRCAM’s ManiFeste, Fontainebleau Music Festival, and Festival MANCA in France, Suntory Summer Arts and Takefu Music Festival in Japan, and the Aspen, Norfolk, Santa Fe, and Tanglewood music festivals in the United States. Among her recent compositions is the cello concerto whisper concerto (2023), jointly commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Staatsorchester Darmstadt and BBC Radio 3.
Nominated by violinist Hilary Hahn, Balch was announced as the recipient of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s 2020 Career Advancement Award. She has also been honored by ASCAP, BMI, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Chamber Music America, and Barlow Foundation, and has served as composer-in-residence for Young Concert Artists and the California Symphony. In 2021, she has been in residence at the American Academy in Rome as the Elliot Carter Rome Prize Fellow.
Deeply committed to developing inclusive, engaging pedagogical practices that empower students through creative music-making, Balch currently teaches composition and orchestration at Mannes School of Music. She is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University and an alumna of the Yale School of Music. Her chamber works are published by Schott PSNY. Katherine documents her lived experiences on the page, with each composition serving as a diary of what has captivated her curiosity. When she’s not creating, she’s collecting inspiration from the nearest botanical gardens, Rimbaud’s poetry, or her feline sidekick, Zarathustra.
Worklist
Chronology
Born on August 17, 1991 in San Diego
"Epiphyte" for piano and orchestra was premiered by the New York Youth Symphony
"Epiphyte" for piano and orchestra won the ASCAP Morton Gould Award and was a finalist for the BMI Student Composer Awards
Won the Albany Symphony Orchestra's "Composer to Center Stage" competition
Won the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau’s prix du composition
Won the New England Conservatory’s Donald Martino composition prize
"Triple Point" won American Modern Ensemble 8th Annual Composition Competition’s first prize (Tier I)
"New Geometry" premiered by Ensemble Intercontemporain
"New Geometry" wins Honorable Mention at the American Modern Ensemble’s 10th Annual Competition
"Vidi l’Angelo nel marmo" won the International Society of Double Bassists composition competition’s Grand Prize
Won the Yale School of Music’s Alumni Association Prize for outstanding community contribution
"Leaf Fabric" for orchestra premiered by the Tokyo Symphony at Suntory Hall
The Albany Symphony Orchestra premieres “drift” at EMPAC
"Vidi l’Angelo nel marmo" won the Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) student composer award
Named the 2017-2019 Young Concert Artists Composer In Residence
Won the Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Scholarship
“Responding to the Waves” won the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra’s call for scores
"Chamber Music" for orchestra premiered by the Oregon Symphony
"like a broken clock" premiered by the California Symphony
"Leaf Fabric" won the Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) student composer award
“Artifacts” for violin and orchestra premiered by Robyn Bollinger and the California Symphony
"Prelude" won second prize at the Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award
"drip music" selected for ISCM 2020 World Music Days
“impromptu” premiered by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Awarded the Elliot Carter Rome Prize in Music Fellowship
Awarded the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Women in Classical Music Symposium Career Advancement Award
Products
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for SSAA unaccompanied choirComposer: Katherine BalchEdition: Choral scoreInstrumentation: female choir (SSAA) without accompanimentProduct number: ED 30415Product TypeIn stockAs low as €17.99Incl. Tax
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for large ensembleComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: large ensemble
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Concerto for violin and orchestraComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: violin and orchestra
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version for chamber orchestraComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: chamber orchestra
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for orchestraComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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for violin and latex gloveComposer: Katherine BalchEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: violin and latex gloveProduct number: ED 30371Product TypeIn stockAs low as €10.99Incl. Tax
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for piano trioComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: violin, cello, pianoProduct number: ED 30451Out of stock€189.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for orchestraComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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for flute and pianoComposer: Katherine BalchEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: flute and pianoProduct number: ED 30360Product TypeIn stockAs low as €54.99Incl. Tax
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for string quartetComposer: Katherine BalchEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: string quartetProduct number: ED 30358Product TypeIn stockAs low as €87.99Incl. Tax
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for soprano and pianoComposer: Katherine BalchText writer: Katie FordEdition: Score (also performance score)Instrumentation: soprano and pianoProduct number: ED 30424Product TypeIn stockAs low as €66.99Incl. Tax
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for vocal sextet and toy noise makersComposer: Katherine BalchEdition: Score (also performance score)Instrumentation: solo soprano, mezzo-soprano, counter tenor, tenor, baritone, and bass voicesProduct number: ED 30403Product TypeIn stockAs low as €66.99Incl. Tax
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for bass voice and pianoComposer: Katherine BalchEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: bass voice and pianoProduct number: ED 30361Product TypeIn stockAs low as €28.99Incl. Tax
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for violin scordaturaProduct TypeIn stockAs low as €15.99Incl. Tax
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for 3 vocal soloists (SSMez) and orchestraComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: 3 vocal soloists (SSMez) and orchestraLanguage: English
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for orchestraComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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for solo accordionProduct TypeIn stockAs low as €10.99Incl. Tax
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for double bass septetComposer: Katherine BalchEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: double bass septetProduct number: ED 30357Product TypeIn stockAs low as €145.99Incl. Tax
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for orchestraComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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for orchestraComposer: Katherine BalchMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra