Brett Abigaña
Biography
Brett Abigaña (b. 24 September 1980) is an American composer and educator.
Dr. Abigaña completed his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at The Juilliard School where he studied with Samuel Adler and Robert Beaser, and received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University where he studied with Samuel Headrick and Richard Cornell. Other studies include composition, harmony, and counterpoint with Narcis Bonet, Michel Merlet, and Philip Lasser at La Schola Cantorum in Paris, as well as conducting with Judith Clurman and ear training with Mary Anthony Cox.
Brett Abigaña’s music has been performed throughout the United States and Europe, including performances on Dutch Public Radio, and his music has been commissioned and performed by numerous performers, including violist David Samuel, The United States Naval Academy Band, and The United States Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus. He has written a wide variety of music including chamber music for strings and winds, song cycles, and numerous pieces for orchestra and symphonic band, including several concertos. He has gained a reputation for writing expressive, triadic music, and is much in demand as a guest lecturer, clinician, and conductor.
Dr. Abigaña had the honor of having one of his works for band, Petite Overture, named one of the top 11 pieces of 2009 by British conductor, educator, and wind band authority Tim Reynish, after it was premiered at the 2009 World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, Mr. Reynish has named him as a significant composer for wind band, including him on a list of only 19 composers that includes Percy Aldridge Grainger, Gordon Jacob, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Dr. Abigaña is currently on faculty at Boston University and Boston University Academy, and is an affiliated artist at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to maintaining this busy teaching and composing schedule, he is also the associate director of the Boston Composers’ Coalition, a non-profit collaborative organization dedicated to the creation, performance, education, and dissemination of new music.
Works for Winds
- As the Wood Smoke Rises (2014)
- Chorale and Blaspheme (2009/2015)
- Daylight Passing (2016)
- Devil's Drive (2017)
- Down the Lonely Path (2014)
- Locrian Riffs (2020)
- Lux Contrapunctum (2016)
- Masque of the Red Death, The (2010)
- Miserere (2008)
- Sketches on Paintings No 2 (2009/2015)
- Soliloquy for Band (2007)
- Symphony No. 1 (2012)
- Symphony No. 2 (2015)
- Symphony No. 3 (2016)