Megan Grace Beugger
Dr. Megan Grace Beugger (b. Arlington heights, IL USA, 1987) is a composer based in Chicago, IL. She is particularly interested in creating direct relationships between the physicality of performance and sound production, timbre, and durational elements, exposing the physical nature of the musicians performing her work, and integrating elements of visual arts, dance, and theatre with sound.
Megan's piece Liaison, for piano dancer was refered to as the most "startlingly original work," of the 2013 June in Buffalo festival by Artvoice Buffalo. The work's most recent performance at the 2015 MATA Festival in NYC was featured in reviews by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal among others . Megan was commissioned by Dal Niente violinist Austin Wulliman to write pulsation, which he premiered on a Dal Niente concert in 2012. She was a participant in the 2011 Schloss Solitude Summer Akademie, where members of Ensemble SurPlus premiered her string quartet, Expanse. Ensemble SurPlus has since played subsequent performances in Freiburg. CSO and ICE cellist Katinka Kleijn commissioned her to write a piece for the "Oil Free blush" commission project, which was premiered during the 2010 Chicago Humanities festival. She has attended the Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice in Boston during the summer of 2008 and 2009, where both summers her music was chosen for performance. The performance of eMOTION at the 2009 SICPP festival was reviewed by the Boston Globe, who called the piece a "favorite," and described it as "casting quiet spells in the expressive space between music and noise." Hans-Christian Dellinger and Ensemble Recherche pianist Jean-Pierre Collot performed her duo for alto saxophone and piano, and of the same, on a new music series at the Munich Philharmonic Gasteig on October 21, 2009. She was named 2008 "Emerging Composer" by the New York Arts Ensemble competition and was the winner of the 2007/2008 New Music Project Call for scores, who commissioned her to write a piece for string sextet, two percussionists, mezzo-soprano, and live electronics which was premiered in the spring of 2008.
Musicians such as the JACK string quartet and Arditti cellist Lucas Fels have recorded her music. She has received lessons from Jo Kondo, Chaya Czernowin, Steven Takasugi, Amnon Wolman, Kaija Saariaho, Rand Steiger, Lei Liang, and Oliver Knussen, and has presented her music in a masterclass with Augusta Read Thomas, John Harbison, and Pauline Oliveros, among others. Her principal teachers have been Robert Ian Winstin, Aaron Travers, Aaron Cassidy, Lee Hyla, Marcos Balter, Jay Alan Yim, and David Felder. In 2010, she graduated cum laude from Northwestern University with departmental honors. Megan received her PhD in 2015 from the University at Buffalo, where she was a Presidential Fellow. She currently teaches theory and composition at Midwest Young Artist Conservatory and at the Walden School.
Dr. Megan Grace Beugger (b. Arlington heights, IL USA, 1987) is a composer based in Chicago, IL. She is particularly interested in creating direct relationships between the physicality of performance and sound production, timbre, and durational elements, exposing the physical nature of the musicians performing her work, and integrating elements of visual arts, dance, and theatre with sound.
Megan's piece Liaison, for piano dancer was refered to as the most "startlingly original work," of the 2013 June in Buffalo festival by Artvoice Buffalo. The work's most recent performance at the 2015 MATA Festival in NYC was featured in reviews by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal among others . Megan was commissioned by Dal Niente violinist Austin Wulliman to write pulsation, which he premiered on a Dal Niente concert in 2012. She was a participant in the 2011 Schloss Solitude Summer Akademie, where members of Ensemble SurPlus premiered her string quartet, Expanse. Ensemble SurPlus has since played subsequent performances in Freiburg. CSO and ICE cellist Katinka Kleijn commissioned her to write a piece for the "Oil Free blush" commission project, which was premiered during the 2010 Chicago Humanities festival. She has attended the Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice in Boston during the summer of 2008 and 2009, where both summers her music was chosen for performance. The performance of eMOTION at the 2009 SICPP festival was reviewed by the Boston Globe, who called the piece a "favorite," and described it as "casting quiet spells in the expressive space between music and noise." Hans-Christian Dellinger and Ensemble Recherche pianist Jean-Pierre Collot performed her duo for alto saxophone and piano, and of the same, on a new music series at the Munich Philharmonic Gasteig on October 21, 2009. She was named 2008 "Emerging Composer" by the New York Arts Ensemble competition and was the winner of the 2007/2008 New Music Project Call for scores, who commissioned her to write a piece for string sextet, two percussionists, mezzo-soprano, and live electronics which was premiered in the spring of 2008.
Musicians such as the JACK string quartet and Arditti cellist Lucas Fels have recorded her music. She has received lessons from Jo Kondo, Chaya Czernowin, Steven Takasugi, Amnon Wolman, Kaija Saariaho, Rand Steiger, Lei Liang, and Oliver Knussen, and has presented her music in a masterclass with Augusta Read Thomas, John Harbison, and Pauline Oliveros, among others. Her principal teachers have been Robert Ian Winstin, Aaron Travers, Aaron Cassidy, Lee Hyla, Marcos Balter, Jay Alan Yim, and David Felder. In 2010, she graduated cum laude from Northwestern University with departmental honors. Megan received her PhD in 2015 from the University at Buffalo, where she was a Presidential Fellow. She currently teaches theory and composition at Midwest Young Artist Conservatory and at the Walden School.
Compilations with this composer
Compilations
