# Erin Gee (composer)

Erin Elizabeth Gee (born 1974) (born San Luis Obispo, California) is an American composer and vocalist. Among the fellowships she has held are the Guggenheim and the Radcliffe Institute Fellowships, and among the awards she has won for her compositions are the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, the Rome Prize and the first prize of the International Rostrum of Composers. She was on the faculty of the University of Illinois in Urbana as Assistant Professor of Composition-Theory and is currently Associate Professor of Composition at Brandeis University.

## Education

In 1997 Gee received her B.M. with honors and highest distinction in Piano Performance from the University of Iowa; there she also earned an M.A. in composition in 2002. In 2007, she earned her Ph.D. in music theory from the University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Graz, Austria where she studied musical composition with Beat Furrer.

## Career

With her brother Colin Gee, she performed at the Whitney Museum of Art and was a resident at the Montalvo Arts Center. She won the 2008 Rome Prize and was a Guggenheim Fellow in 2009. From 2010-2011, she was a fellow in composition at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart. In 2015, she received the Charles Ives Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The puzzle video game app Blek contains excerpts of Erin Gee's work. Gee is one of the Kronos Quartet 50 for the Future composers.
A reviewer from the Harvard Gazette described a performance of Gee's work as "a young woman with a microphone in each hand performing a curious and captivating symphony of sound and song".

## Selected works

| Work | Premiere/Award | Year written |
| Mouthpiece 34 | Premiered at the Centre Pompidou in the “Neurons” Exhibit, Paris, France | 2019 |
| Mouthpiece 33 | Written for the Argento Ensemble. Premiered at Roulette Intermedium, Brooklyn, NY | 2019 |
| Mouthpiece 32 | Commissioned by Chamber Music America for the Ensemble Dal Niente | 2018 |
| Mouthpiece 31 | Commissioned by Kronos Quartet | 2017 |
| Mouthpiece 30 | Commissioned by and written for Frauke Aulbert, voice Premiered at the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany | 2017 |
| Mouthpiece 29 | Commissioned by and premiered at the Tanglewood Music Center | 2016 |
| Mouthpiece 28 | Commissioned and premiered by the TAK ensemble Premiered at the Resonant Bodies Festival | 2016 |
| Mouthpiece XIXc | Premiered at the NienteForte Festival by the ECCE Ensemble | 2016 |
| Mouthpiece XXVII | Commissioned by Musik Protokoll in Steirischer Herbst, Graz Austria. Premiered and recorded by Ensemble NOVA | 2016 |
| Mouthpiece XXVI | Commissioned by the Humanities Center at DePaul University | 2016 |
| Mouthpiece XXIV | Commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble Premiered by Ryan Muncy and Ross Karre at the Abrons Art Center in Brooklyn, NY. | 2015 |
| Mouthpiece XXI | Commissioned by Musikprotokoll, Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria Premiered by the Arditti Quartet Performed by the JACK Quartet at the Lucerne Festival, Switzerland, the Banff Centre, Canada (2017) | 2014 |
| Mouthpiece XIX | Commissioned by the Arnold Schoenberg Center, Vienna Austria Premiered at the Arnold Schoenberg Center in Vienna, Austria | 2013/14 |
| Mouthpiece XX | Commissioned by the ORF and premiered by the RSO Wien at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Grosse Saal Conducted by Cornelius Meister Erin Gee, voice Colin Gee, actor/dramaturge Video by Patrick Kelly | 2013 |
| “…In the first place…” | Music for Colin Gee’s Dance film commissioned by and premiered at EMPAC, Troy, NY | 2012 |
| Mouthpiece XVI | Commissioned by Akademie Schloss Solitude Premiered by the Ascolta Ensemble at Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart. | 2012 |
| Mouthpiece XIV | Commissioned by the Iowa Piano Teacher’s Association. Written for and premiered by Réne Lecuona. | 2010 |
| Mouthpiece XIII | Commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra and LVMH. Premiered at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall, New York City. Erin Gee, voice Colin Gee, Actor and Dramaturge | 2009 |
| Mouthpiece XII | Premiered by Repertorio Zero at the Konzerthaus Zürich in the Tage für Neue Musik, Zürich. Erin Gee, voice | 2009 |
| Mouthpiece XI | Commissioned by the LA Philharmonic New Music Group Premiered at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles Conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen Erin Gee, voice | 2009 |
| SLEEP: an opera | Premiered at the Zurich Opera House, 2009. Erin Gee, voice. Morgan Moody, Bass Baritone Teatro Minimo Prize | 2008 |
| Sawari Mouthpiece for Koto and Voice | Premiered at the 4020 Festival in Linz, Austria | 2008 |
| Mouthpiece X | Premiered at the Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Witten, Germany in 2009 by Klangforum Wien Erin Gee, voice CD Released on Col Legno 2014 | 2008 |
| Mouthpiece: Segment of the 4th Letter | Premiered by Ensemble Recherche Gianni Bergamo Prize (1st Round) | 2007 |
| Mouthpiece IX | Commissioned by Musik Protokoll, Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria and the Klangspuren Festival. Premiered at the Klangspuren Festival by the RSO Wien. Erin Gee, voice. Martyn Brabbins, conductor. Awarded the Rostrum of Composers Prize, Paris, France – 2007 CD Released on Col Legno | 2006 |
| Mouthpiece Topology | Premiered by the Latvian Radio Choir Premiered at the Klangspuren Festival, Klagenfurt, Austria | 2006 |
| Mouthpiece VIII | Commissioned by MozartJahr 2006 Premiered at the ORF Vienna, Austria. Erin Gee, voice | 2006 |
| Yamaguchi Mouthpieces | Premiered at the Akiyoshidai International Art Viliage. Erin Gee, voice Look and Listen Festival Prize, New York City | 2005 |
| Mouthpiece VII | Premiered by Klangforum Wien impuls Festival Prize, Graz, Austria Conducted by Johannes Kalitzke. Erin Gee, voice | 2004 |
| Mouthpiece VI | Premiered by Klangforum Wien Erin Gee, voice | 2004 |
| Mouthpiece III | Premiered by Klangforum Wien | 2002 |
| Mouthpiece Remix | Premiered at the Institute for Electronic Music (IEM), Graz, Austria | 2003 |
| Mouthpiece II | Premiered at the MATA Festival 2002 Erin Gee, voice | 2002 |
| Mouthpiece I | Erin Gee, voice | 2001 |

## Discography

| Work(s) | Label/Performer/CD | Year |
| A Howl, That Was Also A Prayer Three Scenes from the Opera, SLEEP | Ekemeles Ensemble | 2020 |
| Oor Mouthpiece XXVIII | TAK Ensemble | 2019 |
| Mouthpiece XXVII | Hoehenrausch Ensemble NOVA ORF Austrian Broadcasting Corporation | 2017 |
| Mouthpiece XXIV | Ryan Muncy ISM | 2016 |
| "Mouthpieces" (portrait CD) | col legno label Klangforum Wien PHACE Ensemble | 2014 |
| Yamaguchi Mouthpiece Part 3 | The Believer Magazine | 2011 |
| Mouthpiece IX (parallel version) | 102 Masterpieces: ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra miniatures | 2010 |
| Akiguchi Mouthpiece | Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik | 2008 |
| Yamaguchi Mouthpiece | Entspannte Gleichzeitigkeit - Hammer Records | 2006 |

## Selected awards and grants

* 2022 Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
* 2019 Koussevitsky Award
* 2017 Fromm Foundation Commission
* 2015 American Academy of Arts and Letters, Charles Ives Fellowship Recipient ( Charles Ives Prize )
* 2009 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, New York City.
* 2007 Rome Prize, The American Academy in Rome, Italy.
* 2007 International Rostrum of Composers “Selected Piece” (First Prize), Paris, France.
* 2007 Teatro Minimo Prize (first round), Zurich Opera House