Conrad Winslow’s music, often buoyant, coloristic, and deeply architectural, is characterized by “harmonic thorniness and rhythmic vitality,” according to the New York Times, and has been described as a “scenic, boisterous and bumpy ride,” by the Albany Times Union. Raised in Homer, Alaska, Conrad perhaps got the idea of making things from scratch by watching his parents chop down trees and build a log cabin home in the woods. Extended childhood road-trips through the continental United Sates and a residential stint in Hawai’i have taught him to look wide.
His instrumental music has been commissioned and performed by ensembles such as the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the New York Youth Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra, New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute, the Juilliard Orchestra, the New Juilliard Ensemble, the NYU Symphony, and the Guidonian Hand trombone quartet; he also composed music for the film The Last Romantic (2006), an “IndieWIRE undiscovered gem” available on IFC on-demand.
Awards and support have come from ascap (ASCAPlus, multiple Morton Gould awards), The Jerome Fund, The Juilliard School (2010 Juilliard Orchestra Competition, New Juilliard Ensemble commission), New York Youth Symphony, Yale Glee Club and New Music USA (CAP Grants in 2011, 2013). Current projects include directing the Wild Shore Festival for New Music in Homer, AK, which he co-founded, and composing new work for bassoonists Rebekah Heller & Adrian Morejon for the International Double Reed Society. Recent commissions include work for Gaudete Brass, Cadillac Moon Ensemble, and a ballet score for choreographer Justin Peck.
He holds a Master’s degree in Composition from the Juilliard School, where he studied with John Corigliano. Conrad also holds an M.M. degree in film scoring from NYU, and an Honors A.B. degree in Music from Rollins College.