Arlene Sierra

Arlene Sierra is a London-based American composer whose music is lauded for its “highly flexible and distinctive style” (The Guardian), ranging from “exquisiteness and restrained power” to “combative and utterly compelling” (Gramophone). Her work has been commissioned and performed by the Albany, Alabama, Boston, Detroit, Seattle, and Utah Symphonies, New York Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, ensembles including Lontano, Psappha, Riot Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Österreichisches Ensemble für neue Musik, Chroma, New Juilliard Ensemble, the Carducci, Daedalus, and Mivos Quartets, the Fidelio, Peabody, Bakken, and Horszowski Trios, and New York City Opera VOX. She has worked with conductors including Thierry Fischer, Andris Nelsons, Kevin John Edusei, Susanna Mälkki, Oliver Knussen, Jac Van Steen, Shiyeon Sung, Odaline de la Martinez, Jayce Ogren, Grant Llewellyn, and Ludovic Morlot. Her music has been performed at festivals including Aldeburgh, Aspen, Bowdoin, Cheltenham, Fontainebleau, Huddersfield, Dartington, and Tanglewood.

Awards include the Takemitsu Composition Prize, a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, PRS Composers Fund and Women Make Music awards, and a Leverhulme Research Fellowship. Sierra’s orchestral showpiece Moler was nominated for a Latin GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, and her music is the subject of a series of portrait recordings by the esteemed Bridge Records label.
Born in Miami to a family of New Yorkers, Arlene Sierra holds degrees from Oberlin College-Conservatory, Yale School of Music, and the University of Michigan. She currently serves as Professor of Music Composition at Cardiff University School of Music.