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  • Oscar Bettison is a composer of visceral, uncompromising, and immersive music that has been described by radio host and music writer John Schaefer as having a “menacing beauty.”
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  • "An unconventional lyricism and a menacing beauty" (WNYC Soundcheck)
    ▪ Awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017
    ▪ Works explore boundaries of classical and rock, pitch and noise, convention and invention
    ▪ Writes for existing instruments with creative and re-imagined roles, as well as "Cinderella" instruments (invented instruments made from found materials)
    ▪ Many works embrace electro-acoustic elements and industrial sonorities
    ▪ Composition Faculty at Peabody Institute since 2009
    The Music of Oscar Bettison
  • Oscar Bettison is a composer of visceral, uncompromising, and immersive music that has been described by radio host and music writer John Schaefer as having a “menacing beauty.”
  • An unconventional lyricism and a menacing beauty
    WNYC Soundcheck
  • Awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017
  • Commissions include Los Angeles Philharmonic, MusikFabrik, So Percussion, Ensemble Klang, Bang on a Can All Stars, London Sinfonietta,the BBC, Oregon Symphony, Alarm Will Sound, and New World Symphony
  • Writes for existing instruments with creative and re-imagined roles, as well as "Cinderella" instruments (invented instruments made from found materials)
  • Composition Faculty at Peabody Institute since 2009

Oscar Bettison’s On the slow weather of dreams Premieres with Asko|Schönberg and Ensemble Klang

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Asko|Schoenberg Ensemble. Photo credit: Tom ten Seldam

Sep. 4, 7pm - Gaudeamus Festival // TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
Sep. 12, 8:15pm - Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam
Sep. 20, 8pm - Musica Festival, Strasbourg
Nov. 13, 8:45pm - November Music //Theater aan de Parade, Den Bosch
Nov. 24, 8:45pm - Amare // Den Haag, Netherlands
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[Latest Project] Watch behind the scenes video
The Light of Lesser Days
Oscar Bettison’s opera The Light of Lesser Days premieres with soprano Katrien Baerts, mezzo-soprano Barbara Kozelj, Asko|Schoenberg, and conductor Clark Rundell on September 9 in Utrecht. The opera also premieres in Amsterdam, September 16.
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