Katherine Bergman

Katherine Bergman

Biography

Katherine Bergman (b. 14 February 1985, St. Paul, Minn.) is a Minnesota-based composer.

Ms. Bergman holds a master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa School of Music, where she studied composition with Jonathan Schwabe and Alan Schmitz. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, with composition instructors including Michele Gillman and Steve Wright. She has studied extensively with Mary Ellen Childs, and has received individual instruction from Samuel Adler.

Bergman draws on literature, environmentalism, and found materials to create music that has been described as hypnotic and visceral. She has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles throughout the United States, including the U.S. Coast Guard Band, Estonian Police and Border Guard Orchestra, Encore Wind Ensemble, Hub New Music, Zeitgeist, Seen/Heard Trio, Minnesota Percussion Trio, The Dream Songs Project, and many others. Her music has been presented at ISCM World Music Days, The Midwest Clinic, North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference, College Band Directors National Association Conference, and The Upper Midwest Chamber Winds Symposium, and her compositions have received support from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, the Metro Regional Arts Council, and New Music USA.

She is artistic director and co-founder of Spitting Image, a composer collective that brings together composers, listeners, and performers to strengthen the Twin Cities new music community.

Works for Winds

• The Animal Whisperer from "Area A Suite" (2019)
• Blueprints for Hope (2019)
• Dream Machine (2016)
• The Front Line
• Hidden Currents (2020)
• Over Wild Solitude (2018)
• Turbinia (2014)

Resources

• The Horizon Leans Forward..., compiled and edited by Erik Kar Jun Leung, GIA Publications, 2021, p. 260.
• Katherine Bergman, personal correspondence, March 2021
• Katherine Bergman website Accessed 17 March 2020