Michael Djupstrom

"I favor music not governed by preconceived forms, ideas, or intellectual constraints, but rather one that evolves organically and is guided by musical intuition."

Michael Djupstrom's (b. 1980) music is compelling, highly developed, and imaginative in form and content. A classical music composer and pianist, he seeks to connect with audiences by bridging traditional and contemporary styles of musical expression. "For me, the unfolding of a clear, carefully organized large-scale tonal framework generates the most compelling and fundamental sense of drama in music," Djupstrom says. "I seek to push today's classical music forward by reinventing tonal structures in a way that's meaningful for 21st-century audiences." Djupstrom has been honored with numerous awards, including the Delius International Composition Prize, the Maurice Garnder Award, and the Academie musicale de Villecroze Prize. His work is widely performed, with concerts occurring throughout the United States, as well as Hong Kong, Paris, London, Tokyo, Shenzhen, and Aix-en-Provence. He received his M.A. in composition from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2005.