bio
Bryce Dessner is a vital and rare force in new music. He has won Grammy Awards as a classical composer and with the band The National, of which he is founding member, guitarist, arranger, and coprincipal songwriter. He is regularly commissioned to write for the world’s leading ensembles, from Orchestre de Paris to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is a high-profile presence in film score composition, with credits including Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant, for which he was Grammy and Golden Globe nominated. His album Tenebre with renowned German string orchestra, Ensemble Resonanz, won both an Opus Klassik award in Germany and a Diapason d’Or in France.
Dessner collaborates with some of today’s most creative and respected artists, including Philip Glass, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Paul Simon, Sufjan Stevens, Jonny Greenwood, Bon Iver, Nico Muhly, and Steve Reich. His orchestrations can be heard on the latest albums of Paul Simon, Bon Iver and Taylor Swift.
In addition to his role as one of eight San Francisco Symphony Collaborative Partners, Dessner is currently Artist-in-Residence at London’s Southbank Centre and with Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. His recent major works include Impermanence with Sydney Dance Company and the Australian String Quartet; Concerto for Two Pianos for Katia and Marielle Labèque, premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded for Deutsche Grammophon; Trombone Concerto which premiered in Cologne in 2020; Voy a Dormir for Kelley O’Connor and the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s; Skrik Trio for Steve Reich and Carnegie Hall; the ballet No Tomorrow co-written with Ragnar Kjartansson; and Wires for Ensemble Intercontemporain.
Dessner’s albums include St. Carolyn by the Sea on Deutsche Grammophon; Aheym, commissioned by Kronos Quartet; Tenebre, performed by Ensemble Resonanz (2019). Dessner’s other film score credits include The Two Popes, nominated for a World Soundtrack award. The full-length album Impermanence/Disintegration by Bryce Dessner, was released April 2, 2021 on 37d03d.