Martha Horst

Biography

Ms. Horst is a composer who has devoted herself to the performance, creation, and instruction of classical music. Her music has also been performed by performers and groups such as the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Fromm Players, Spektral Quartet, CUBE, Earplay, Alea III, Empyrean Ensemble, Chicago Composers Orchestra, Susan Narucki, Left Coast Ensemble, Dal Niente, The Women's Philharmonic, Composers, Inc., members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Eric Mandat, and Amy Briggs. Ms. Horst has won the Copland Award, the Symphony Number One Commissioning Prize, the 2019 Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra Evolve Competition, and the 2005 Alea III International Composition Competition for her work Threads, and the Rebecca Clarke International Composition Competition for her work Cloister Songs, based on 18th century utopian poetry. She has held fellowships at the MacDowell Colony, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Wellesley Conference, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Dartington International School in the UK. Her work Piano Sonata No. 1, recorded by acclaimed pianist Lara Downes, was released nationally by Crossover Media, and her work Straussian Landscapes was recently released by Symphony Number One.

Dr. Horst currently teaches composition and theory at Illinois State University and has also taught
at the University of California, Davis, East Carolina University, and San Francisco State University. She currently serves as the Composer-in-Residence at the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. She has a Ph.D. in music theory and composition from the University of California, Davis.

More information may be found at: http://www.marthacallisonhorst.com