Alistair Coleman is a young composer from Washington, DC. Recent commissioned projects include a concerto for violinist Soovin Kim, a concerto for cellist Zuill Bailey, and a sonata for Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombonist of the New York Philharmonic. Alessi premiered the sonata on-tour in China and Japan. His string quartet, Moonshot was premiered by the Abeo Quartet in collaboration with the Glenstone Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. Recently, he was named the 2023-25 Composer-in-Residence of Young Concert Artists.

The 2023-24 season includes a new work for baritone Joseph Parrish and pianist Damien Sneed, to be premiered at the Kennedy Center and presented by Washington Performing Arts. Additional projects include a violin concerto for Lun Li and a consortium of orchestras, a solo work for pianist Avery Gagliano, and a new song for mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner to be premiered at Carnegie Hall.

Recent highlights include works new works for the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra; collaborations with pianists Amy J. Yang, Zhu Wang, and Janice Carissa in partnership with Steinway; performances by the Tesla and Viano String Quartets; and residencies at Chamber Music Northwest, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, and the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival.

Alistair has collaborated with violinists Alexi Kenney and Nathan Cole, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, violists Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt and Teng Li, trombonist Carlos Jiménez Fernández, and pianists Alessio Bax and Gloria Chien. His music has also been performed by “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Orchestra, National Cathedral Choral Society, and the Washington Master Chorale.

Alistair is winner of two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards (2020, 2021), the 2020 Brian Israel Prize from the Society for New Music, and awards from the American Composers Forum, NPR’s From the Top, and the National YoungArts Foundation. As winner of the 2020 Juilliard Gena Raps Chamber Music Prize, Alistair’s piano trio was premiered at Alice Tully Hall.

During the summer of 2020, Alistair founded an annual composition mentoring program with NYC’s Opportunity Music Project. In partnership with Carnegie Hall’s PlayUSA, over thirty students receive mentorship on their pieces, engage in weekly seminars taught by Alistair and Njioma Grevious, and hear their pieces workshopped by professional musicians.

Alistair holds a B.M. from the Curtis Institute of Music and an Undergraduate Diploma from The Juilliard School. At Juilliard, he was recipient of the George Gershwin Scholarship, took academic coursework at Columbia University, and engaged in mentorship with President Emeritus Joseph W. Polisi. He is pursuing an M.M. at Curtis where his teachers include Richard Danielpour, Nick DiBerardino, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Amy Beth Kirsten, and Steven Mackey. His mentors include Jennifer Higdon and David Serkin Ludwig.

(Updated January 2024)