Praised for “rhythmically-pulsing and mysteriously, majestically-gliding writing” (Gramophone Magazine ), and “a capricious and organic musical energy,” (I Care if You Listen ), composer Alistair Coleman is guided by collaborations with today's leading artists and ensembles.
As Composer-in-Residence of Young Concert Artists , his music has premiered at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, and on tours in Europe and Asia. Dedicated to interdisciplinary exploration, his string quartet Moonshot was premiered by the Abeo Quartet and developed in collaboration with Glenstone Museum and the Smithsonian .
Recent highlights include performances by the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra , Curtis Symphony Orchestra , New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Santa Monica Symphony , the Pacific Youth Symphony , and National Philharmonic at Strathmore Hall; concertos for marimbist Ji Su Jung , violinist Soovin Kim , and cellist Zuill Bailey ; a European tour of a new work for Philharmonische Gesellschaft Bremen ’s bicentennial; and residencies at Chamber Music Northwest , the Lake Champlain Festival , and Norjsø Kammermusikkfest in Norway.
Previous seasons include works for pianists Alessio Bax , Gloria Chien , Avery Gagliano , Amy J. Yang , and Janice Carissa in collaboration with Steinway & Sons. He also has collaborated with tenor Nicky Spence OBE , violinists Alexi Kenney and Nathan Cole , flutist Tara Helen O’Connor , violists Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt and Teng Li , and trombonist Joseph Alessi , among others.
Alistair has received three ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, the Brian Israel Prize from the Society for New Music, the Juilliard Gena Raps Chamber Music Prize, Curtis’s Schwartz Prize in Composition, and honors from the American Composers Forum, and the National YoungArts Foundation. His music has been featured on BBC Radio 3, NPR, and PBS’s Great Performances .
In 2020, he founded a composition mentorship program with the Opportunity Music Project, in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s PlayUSA. He also serves on the Curtis Institute’s Musical Studies Faculty and teaches at Hidden Valley’s Emerging Composers Intensive.
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, Alistair began PhD studies at Princeton University in fall 2025 and holds the Roger Sessions Fellowship. His mentors include Richard Danielpour, Nick DiBerardino, Jennifer Higdon, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Amy Beth Kirsten, Steven Mackey, and David Serkin Ludwig.
