Whitney George began composing after taking music theory at age 16. While pursuing an undergraduate degree at California Institute of the Arts, she focused on interdisciplinary collaboration, which led to the self-production of a full-length opera titled Alphabephobia. This opera included animation, dance, and theater alongside music. George’s music, performance art, and installations have had both international and domestic premieres, primarily in England and the east and west coasts of the US.
Starting in 2008, George studied at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music with Jason Eckardt and Tania Leon, graduating with a Masters in Music Composition in 2010. During her time at Brooklyn College, she was named composer-in-residence with both the Conservatory Orchestra and the conTEMPO new music ensemble. George has received readings from the NY-based Mivos String Quartet, the Cygnus Ensemble, and Transit Ensemble. Her thesis The Yellow Wallpaper, an operatic work, was awarded the Lehman Engel Award. George was also named as a John Duffy Composers Institute Fellow for two years running in 2010 and 2011. George was awarded the Robert Starer award for her orchestral work The Anatomy of the Curiosity Cabinet.
George is the artistic director and conductor of The Curiosity Cabinet, a chamber orchestra whose members were culled from a network of close collaborators. Created in 2009, the ensemble performs regularly in NY. The ensemble has participated in the inaugural CUNY New Music Festival and was recently invited as the ensemble-in-residence at the Hartford Women Composers Festival in 2012.
George also conducts the Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) at CUNY Graduate Center as well as Ursula Oppens’s conTEMPO ensemble at Brooklyn College Conservatory. In November 2011, George conducted the premiere performance of Fred Ho’s opera The Sweet Science Suite: a Scientific Soul Honoring of Mohammed Ali at the Guggenheim Museum, New York.
George is continuing doctoral work at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she studied with David Del Tredici, David Olan, Tania Leon and Bruce Saylor. In addition to her composing and conducting, George assists for composer Kevin James and the [kaj] ensemble and is a research assistant at the Hitchcock Institute for Studies in American Music (HISAM) at Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music. Her sheet music is available for purchase at: https://www.jwpepper.com/myscore/whitneygeorge
Find out more at www.whitneygeorge.com
Alisa Mae 