Patrick Burke (b. 1974, Pittsburgh, PA), hailed as "unquestionably a composer of promise" (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review), composes visceral, emotionally charged music for chamber ensembles, orchestra, vocals, electronic media, and film. Patrick has received various awards, commissions, and fellowships to music festivals, and has written music for professional ensembles such as the Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and eighth blackbird. Patrick is the co-founder and co-artistic director of NOW Ensemble (www.nowensemble.com), an ensemble based in New York, dedicated to presenting music by young composers, dwelling in the realm between minimalism and post-rock. In 2004-2005 Patrick lived in Santiago, Chile, where he composed for his ensemble, sang and played guitar with a Chilean rock band. In 2004 he received the M.M.A. degree in music composition from the Yale School of Music and is working towards the D.M.A. His principal teachers have included Aaron Jay Kernis, Martin Bresnick, Joseph Schwantner, Kevin Puts, Dan Welcher, and David Stock. Currently, Patrick is teaching as Adjunct Professor of Music Theory at Westminster College and working on commissions. He recently finished the film score for the upcoming film, “Behind Forgotten Eyes," a WWII documentary that exposes the horrors perpetrated on the Korean "comfort women."

"Patrick Burke is one of the most exciting young composers I have heard recently. His music is bold and invigorating, intellectually stimulating, and always fresh and original. I look forward to each new piece he writes."  --Kevin Puts

a few thoughts on music--

At this moment we hear a lot about the current era in which everything is allowed-- a "post-everything" era of music. I'm skeptical that this concept is new-- from the perspective of any composer in any time period, doesn't it always seem like we're living in a post-everything era? During the Enlightenment, some philosophers actually worried that there was a finite number of note-combinations, and that music was approaching this limit. Now this seems laughable.

Although I welcome the "everything is allowed" approach, I do not like the "everything is required" attitude. I don't feel it's necessary to show off every style you've mastered in one piece. What's more interesting to me is an earnest and dynamic interaction between multiple styles and/or genres of music-- one that flows naturally from the composer's understanding of the relationships between the different musics.

thank you:

Denis and Sheila Burke, Molly Burke, Emily Pinkerton, James Burke, my extended family, Wanda Pascuzzi, Warren Mercer, Joseph W. Jenkins, David Stock, Vincent Plush, Kevin Puts, Dan Welcher, Russell Pinkston, Joseph Schwantner, Martin Bresnick, Aaron Jay Kernis, Joan Tower, Chen Yi, David Lang, Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe, Joan Panetti, Ezra Laderman, Ingram Marshall, Jack Vees; Andrew Dickinson, Ryan Beavers, Orianna Webb, Judd Greenstein, Michael Mizrahi, Mark Dancigers, Alex Sopp, Sara Phillips, Peter Rosenfeld; all of the musicians who have performed my music, including NOW Ensemble (just mentioned), IonSound Project, the Yale Philharmonic Orchestra and Lawrence Leighton Smith, all of those at New Music New Haven, the University of Texas New Music Ensemble, the Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, eighth blackbird and many others; all of the composers and musicians who have inspired me (some of whom have already been mentioned), including Alfred Schnittke and Steve Reich; other artists who have inspired me such as Roberto Matta, Lewis Carroll, William Blake, Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco, Aldous Huxley, David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Hayao Miyazaki, Akira Kurosawa; and many friends.