Carolyn Yarnell

Born with a plastic spoon in her mouth, Carolyn Yarnell (then known as Baby Girl) was abandoned by her mother in Los Angeles when she was 10 days old. After an unusual childhood in the Sierras, Ms. Yarnell studied music composition at the San Francisco Conservatory with John Adams, Eleanor Armer and Andrew Imbrie, and at Yale where her teachers included Druckman, Bresnick, Maw, and Rzewski. “If this young composer continues to create music of this quality, she will be a milestone in musical history” proclaimed the San Francisco Advocate after the performance of her earliest orchestral work, First Music in 1984, at Davies Hall. Avoiding charges of Heresy, Yarnell continues to create art under interesting circumstances. Never having held a conventional job, Yarnell rather has hewed an existence from commissions, prestigious awards and fellowships, piano students, computer engraving, champion friends (Thanks Candice! Thanks Eric! And a big special thank you to Dan and Belinda!), original painting sales, film scores, and good fortune.