The work of composer and pianist Michael Djupstrom has been recognized through awards from institutions such as the American Academy of Arts and Letters (Charles Ives Fellowship, Charles Ives Scholarship), the American Composers Forum, Meet the Composer, the ASCAP Foundation, the BMI Foundation, the Chinese Fine Arts Society, the Académie musicale de Villecroze, and the Sigurd and Jarmila Rislov Foundation, among many others. The Music Teachers National Association named him the 2005 MTNA-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year for his work "Walimai," an alto saxophone and piano duo that is quickly becoming part of the American classical saxophone repertoire. Djupstrom’s first work for wind ensemble, "Homages," was immediately awarded prestigious national prizes from Ithaca College, ASCAP and the College Band Directors National Association, and is now published by Boosey & Hawkes. He has received commissions from the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, the Tanglewood Music Center, International Opera Theater, the Curtis Institute of Music, the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program, Music From Angel Fire, the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, and Network for New Music, among others. Selected performers of his works include the American Composers Orchestra, Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Symphony in C, and various new music ensembles including Network for New Music, Brave New Works, Composers, Inc., North/South Consonance Ensemble, Sounds New, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and the New Fromm Players at Tanglewood. As part of a team of eight composers, Djupstrom also provided music for a 2003 production of King Lear at Shakespeare & Company of Lenox, Mass.

As a pianist, Djupstrom has performed throughout the United States and abroad in France, China, and Japan. He presented regular concert tours throughout the Northeast in 2005-2008 as a member of the Phoenix Trio, an ensemble dedicated to promoting classical music beyond its conventional performance spaces and typical audiences. Today, he performs regularly with the Philadelphia-based new music ensemble Relâche and as the accompanist for the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus. In 2011, Djupstrom presented a series of duo recitals in England with saxophonist Jonathan Wintringham, who recently recorded Djupstrom’s work “Walimai” for release on the Equilibrium label.

Djupstrom was born in St. Paul, Minnesota (USA) in 1980 and began music studies at the piano at the age of eight. He continued his training at the University of Michigan with Lynne Bartholomew, Sergio de los Cobos and Katherine Collier, and began formal composition study with composers Bright Sheng, Susan Botti, William Bolcom and Karen Tanaka. After receiving a B.M. and M.A. in composition, Djupstrom pursued further studies in Paris with Betsy Jolas, whom he went on to work for as assistant. He also holds an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was enrolled from 2009-2011 as a composition student of Jennifer Higdon and Richard Danielpour. Other training included fellowships at the Tanglewood Music Center in 2002 and 2003, where Djupstrom worked with composers Michael Gandolfi, Augusta Read Thomas, Osvaldo Golijov and George Benjamin, among others; at the 2005 Aspen Music Festival and School, his teachers were Robert Beaser and Christopher Rouse. Djupstrom currently lives in Philadelphia, where he teaches piano at Settlement Music School.

10/3/2011