Alexandra BryantFaculty

Hailed as a “promising composer” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Alexandra T Bryant has been lauded for her “ability to convey myriad moods through clear thematic materials and coloristic contrasts.”  The 2008 world premiere of her piece Apostrophe was presented by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in Severance Hall.  In addition to being commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, she has received commissions from the Kronos Quartet, William Preucil (concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra), the Aeolus Quartet in collaboration with the Friends of Chamber Music of Reading and through a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, Katherine Murdock and Mark Hill, Carman Balthrop, Duo Scordatura and Scordatura Music Society, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Santa Fe Youth Symphony Orchestra Association, the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association, The Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, and the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre & Academy.  She has participated in the Cabrillo Festival (2012), is the 2010 winner of the Avalon Composition Competition, and the 2007-2008 recipient of Darius Milhaud Award at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Dr. Bryant has also been a finalist or prizewinner in numerous composition competitions including Morton Gould, Lake George Music Festival, Garth Newel, USA International Harp Society, Flute New Music Consortium, and the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute.  In the summer of 2011, Alexandra served on the faculty of the Luzerne Music Center as composer-in-residence.

Born in Western Washington, Dr. Bryant is a graduate of the University of Maryland where she taught written theory, aural skills, and music fundamentals.  She was a recipient of the school's Flagship Fellowship and the School of Music's Dean's Fellowship and has studied with Mark Wilson and Lawrence Moss.  Additionally, Dr. Bryant is a 2010 Master’s graduate of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where studied under Dr. Pierre Jalbert and Dr. Arthur Gottschalk.  In May of 2008, Miss Bryant completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition under the guidance of Dr. Margaret Brouwer and Dr. Paul Schoenfield from the Cleveland Institute of Music.  During the summer of 2010, she was a Composition Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School studying under Sydney Hodkinson.  Dr. Bryant has also studied under George Tsontakis at Aspen, the Bowdoin International Music Festival with Samuel Adler, Claude Baker, and Simone Fontanelli, Tyler White at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chamber Music Institute, the Czech-American Summer Music Institute in Prague with Ladislav Kubik, and Dr. Robert Hutchinson at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

Beginning her musical studies at an early age on the violin under the direction of her mother, her major private instructors since have included Janis Upshall, Dr. Maria Sampen at the University of Puget Sound, and David Russell at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Participating actively in orchestral and chamber music since a very early age, Miss Bryant has acted as Concertmaster of both the Tacoma Youth Symphony and the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, as well as Principal Second of the University of Puget Sound’s Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestras, in addition to numerous leadership positions in other ensembles. During her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Dr. Bryant was also a participant in the orchestra program and in chamber ensembles at the Shepherd School.

Dr. Bryant currently lives in the greater Twin Cities area with her husband, their two boys, and their dog, Maple.

www.alexandratbryant.com

Courses Taught