Composition

Mark Arnett–DMA 2013. Arnett is an instructor of music theory at the University of Colorado Boulder. His choral and wind ensemble works have been performed by ensembles across the United States. As a jazz pianist, he has performed alongside many distinguished artists including Kim Nazarian, Tom Patituci, Ron Stein, Dave Friesan, Clark Bondy, Gavin Bondy, Gary Hobbs, Dave Kaptein and Dennis Plies.

Matthew Browne–BM 2011. Browne earned a DMA from the University of Michigan. He received numerous awards from organizations including the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), and has collaborated with many leading ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound, the Minnesota Orchestra, the PRISM Quartet and the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Browne works as a freelance composer and teaches composition at the Village Community School in New York City. 

Elizabeth Comninellis–MM 2012. Comninellis accepted a residency with the Tallgrass Institute and is composer-in-residence with the Boulder Symphony Orchestra. Her works have been performed across the country and she was the recipient of the Kent Kennan Fellowship for Music Composition at the University of Texas Austin (2013-17).

Egemen Kesikli–DMA 2017. Kesikli is a guest lecturer at CU Boulder, as well as artistic director of CU Boulder SoundWorks; additionally, he’s an instructor of music theory at Colorado State University. He has received honors from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the Beethoven Club, among others. Kesikli’s music performed at music festivals, concert halls, bars and taverns across North America, as well as in his home country, Turkey.  

Leanna Kirchoff–DMA 2014. Kirchoff is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. Her music has been included in concerts at Carnegie Hall, the 9th New London Wind Festival in the United Kingdom, the Ernest Bloch Festival in Oregon, the Chamber Music Conference in Vermont, Stages Theatre Company in Minnesota and the American Choral Directors Association conference in Missouri. She was named the 2010 Colorado State Music Teachers Association Commissioned Composer and she won the International Sorel Medallion for Choral Music in 2007.

Benjamin Morris–DMA 2022. During his degree, Morris accomplished a body of work and amassed enough accolades along the way to equal that of perhaps three ambitious graduate students. He composed operas, film scores, orchestral works, songs, piano pieces, chamber works and more, which all received professional recordings. Following graduation, Morris was hired for a tenure-track position to teach at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Greg Simon–MM 2010. Simon earned a DMA from the University of Michigan. He is assistant professor of composition and jazz studies at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, as well as artist faculty at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. Simon’s works have been performed by countless ensembles around the world, and he has received numerous awards in both concert music and jazz music.

Steven Snowden–MM 2009. Snowden has been a visiting professor and composer-in-residence at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Writing music for dance, theater, multimedia installations and the concert stage, his work often focuses on underground American history and how past events relate to modern society. 

Brandon Vaccaro–DMA ’09. Vaccarp is coordinator of sound recording technology and an associate teaching professor in music at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. As a composer, Vaccaro has received awards, commendations and commissions from the New York Youth Symphony’s First Music program, the University of Denver’s Playground Ensemble and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)/Society of Composers Inc. (SCI). His film work has been recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (2012 Heartland Emmy winner, 2014 Heartland Emmy nominee) and the Motion Picture Sound Editors (2012 MPSE Golden Reel Nominee).