Every single one of my works is born from a close collaboration of equals. Whether I’m writing for a single performance or a multi-year composer residency project, working with fellow artists is the lifeblood of what I do. These relationships impact everything from stylistic choices to the texts and subject matter I choose to set. Colleagues become friends and close confidants - or in the case of soprano Heidi Moss Erickson, my wife!
A new composition isn’t just a means for self-expression, but an opportunity to reinvent the repertoire and communicate on a deeply personal level what it means to live in the beauty and chaos of the modern world.
Now more than ever, we need the arts for solace and comfort.
The great bluegrass artist Mary Gauthier once said “When you go past the personal to the deeply personal, you get to the universal”. That’s not only a beautiful quote, it’s also a near-perfect summation of my approach. As cliche as it sounds, music grounds us and connects us to one another in ways that have a profound impact on our lives.
Thank you for stopping by and please do feel free to check out some of my music. Drop me a line and I look forward to hearing from you!
ABOUT
Composer Kurt Erickson has achieved global success with his Here, Bullet song set, a work that won First Prize in the 2020 NATS Art Song competition and is being turned into a short film by Tony-nominated actor/director Will Chase. Erickson currently serves as Composer-in-Residence with San Francisco’s LIEDER ALIVE!, writing and premiering new commissioned works on their subscription concert series. Considered an entrepreneurial artist and thought leader, Erickson has designed and implemented over ten years of multi-year composer residencies with cathedrals, dance companies, performing arts organizations, and national shrines. He has been called “a composer at the height of his powers” and his music has been described as “haunting and poetic”, “gripping”, “genuinely moving”; with one author writing that a performance “moved this reviewer to tears”. He is a frequent performer and collaborator with his wife, acclaimed soprano Heidi Moss Erickson.
A Quick Listen
