Jeffrey Nytch (he/him) has built a diverse career as a composer, educator, performer and thought leader in arts entrepreneurship. In addition to nearly 30 years as a professional musician, he has also run a small business, performed as a singer and voice actor, and served six seasons as Executive Director of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (PNME)—one of the nation’s premiere new music ensembles. He has served on the faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder since 2009 as Director of the Entrepreneurship Center for Music and Professor of Composition.
Nytch’s international reputation as an arts entrepreneurship educator includes numerous conference invitations, including as closing Keynote Speaker for the 1st International Conference on Arts Entrepreneurship (Oslo, Norway) and invitations to present at the College Music Society, National Association of Schools of Music, Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education, U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship and others. He is in wide demand as a speaker and workshop facilitator, visiting a long list of schools including the Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University, Rice University, University of Michigan, Northwestern University and many others. His cross-disciplinary work with music and geoscience has also garnered invitations to speak at the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, European Geophysical Union and the Royal Meteorological Society. He has received awards for his work from U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship) and the Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education (the Sharon Alpi Award for Innovative Pedagogy). His groundbreaking book—The Entrepreneurial Muse (Oxford University Press)—applies traditional entrepreneurial theory to the performing arts.
A 2023 MacDowell Fellow, Nytch’s compositions have been performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, MoMA, National Sawdust, the Corcoran Gallery, the Kennedy Center and countless other venues throughout the United States and Europe. Notable artists include the New York Chamber Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Third Coast Percussion, ~Nois Saxophone Quartet and many others. The recording of his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, with Richard Stoltzman and the Seattle Symphony, was celebrated by Gramophone as one of the Top 10 Classical Discs of 2002. In 2013, his Symphony No. 1: “Formations,” commissioned by the Geological Society of America, received international praise for its fusion of music, science and community engagement. More recent projects include a violin concerto for Grammy Award-winning violinist Edward Dusinberre, his choral work “Our Birthright” (premiered in 2022 at Carnegie Hall) and “For the Trees,” a multimedia string quartet that received its East Coast premiere at National Sawdust, one of America’s leading venues for new music. He is currently working on a contrabassoon concerto for James Rodgers, Principal of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Nytch holds dual bachelor’s degrees in music and geology from Franklin & Marshall College, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He resides in Boulder, Colorado, with his husband Jeffrey.
Headshot photo credit: Joanna Morrissey