Internationally recognized composer Kirsten Volness (she/her) creates sublimely intimate and emotive soundscapes that inspire immersive listening. Through the refined use of electronics and modern composition techniques overlaid with jazz and pop influences, Volness’s music is both groovy and graceful, “irresistible” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “nothing short of gorgeous.” (New York Arts). Each of her compositions reveals “an exquisite sound world” (New Classic LA) with disparate, suggestive musical elements and idioms woven together to create sonic atmospheres that hold listeners in beauty and fascination. Inspired by nature, myth, spirituality, and environmental and sociopolitical issues, Volness’s music is smart, relevant, timeless, and transcendent. 

Volness’s work features around the world, with past performances at The Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), L’Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges, The New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), Illuminus Boston, Electronic Music Midwest, Noise Floor, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, Third Practice, Tribeca New Music, American Composers Alliance, LunART, the Montréal and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, and concerts throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. Her rich commission history includes projects with the World Future Council Foundation, ASCAP/SEAMUS, BMI Foundation, Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance, Metropolis Ensemble, Hotel Elefant, NOW Ensemble, Transient Canvas, Opera Cowgirls, Experiential Orchestra, Cambridge Philharmonic, and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. Volness received the MacColl Johnson Fellowship in 2017, the Fellowship in Music Composition from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts three times (2018, 2014, 2010), and the 2017 Composer-in-Residence position at the Music Mansion. Her first opera, Letters That You Will Not Get: Women's Voices From The Great War, is in development with The American Opera Project with support from OPERA America's Opera Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.