Madeline Barrett, based in Los Angeles, CA, is a contemporary composer of concert music striving to evoke imagery of nature and foster human connection. Raised in Phoenix, AZ, she often draws inspiration from the world around her, whether it be oceans of the North American coast, the deserts of Arizona, or the softly bustling streets of Boston. In her compositions, Madeline employs a language of interwoven tertian and non-tertian harmonies, undulating ostinati, and diverse rhythmic landscapes, which derives from an eclectic group of influences, from Baroque counterpoint to French impressionism to 1980s popular music to American jazz. Studying classical piano from the age of 3, she grew up with various styles of music as an important part of everyday life and discovered the beauty of music does not only come from its melodies and harmonies, but rather the ways through which it invokes thought, stimulation, and communication, an ideal which informs her artistic processes. 

softly speaks the wind, a collection of miniature tone poems, explores our relationship with death through Japanese jisei or “death poems”. A practice that originated in Zen Buddhism, these poems were written by literate people just before their death. They tend to offer a meaningful observation on life in addition to a reflection on death. As a participant in the Sounds Promising Young Composer Program, the work was written in collaboration with and recently premiered by prominent LA-based chamber group, Salastina Music Society. In addition to many US performances, Madeline’s works have been performed in Italy and Austria, by esteemed groups such as the Aperture Duo, Fivemind Reed Quintet, Carpe Diem String Quartet, Quatuor Diotima, Boston New Music Initiative, and PHACE ensemble, as well as pianist Stefano Greco and soprano Michelle Rice.

Madeline attended the Cortona Sessions for New Music in the summer of 2017, where she won the Iron Composer Competition, and the Vienna Summer Music Festival Composer’s forum in the summer of 2018. Most recently, she studied in the Global Academy at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, during which time her string quartet, BLOOM, was premiered in the Primavera Chigiana Concert Series. She is a recent winner of the 7th Annual Boston New Music Initiative Young Composer Competition for her work The Flowers That Close at Night and a finalist in the 1st Leonardo Da Vinci International Choral Composition Competition (Category A - Mixed Choirs Adults).

Madeline has a Bachelor of Music in Composition from Chapman University and a Master of Arts from UCLA, and past composition instructors include Jeffrey Holmes, Sean Heim, Vera Ivanova, and Ian Krouse. She is currently pursuing a PhD in composition, continuing her studies at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music in the studio of Richard Danielpour.