Biography
Brendan Faegre (b. 1985, Portland, Oregon) is an internationally performed composer, percussionist, and educator. Built on the premise that the highest calibre musical works of all traditions have more similarities than differences, he seeks to combine the resonant elements of numerous musical traditions into a compelling and unique voice. His music draws inspiration from jazz and rock drumming, Hindustani classical music, Norwegian folk music, Argentine tango, and many styles and traditions found in Western classical music.Brendan's music has been performed widely by ensembles and performers such as Duo Cross-Fire (percussionists Gert Mortensen & Jia Jia Qiao), Contemporaneous, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Luna Nova New Music Ensemble, Juventas New Music Ensemble, members of Brave New Works, American Academy of Conducting at Aspen Orchestra, Indiana University Concert Orchestra, Amphion Percussion, percussionist Amy Putnam, saxophonist Michael Straus, and baroque violinist Lucia Giraudo. His compositions have been featured at festivals and conferences such as A Tempo - Festival Internazionale di Musica (Portogruaro, Italy), Ung Nordisk Musik (Copenhagen, Denmark), Vinterlydfestivalen (Oslo, Norway), Aspen Music Festival (CO), Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music (ME), Belvedere Chamber Music Festival (TN), International Computer Music Conference (NY), SCI Region VIII Conference (WA), and SCI Student National Conferences (AZ, WV). Recent honors and awards include an American-Scandinavian Foundation Fellowship to support a year of composition studies in Norway, a Susan and Ford Schumann Fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival, a BMI Student Composer Award, 1st prize in the Beethoven Club Student Composition Contest, and the ASCAP Foundation Young Composer Fellowship to study at the Bowdoin International Music Festival.
Brendan's life journey thus far has taken him through the roles of tabla disciple of Pandit Ramdas Palsule; private instructor of percussion, music theory, and composition; jazz ensemble coach; radio host; professional jazz drummer and symphonic percussionist; lecturer on Hindustani Classical music; Alaskan carpenter; and Associate Instructor of Music Theory at Indiana University. This versatile background has equipped him with many compositional tools to use while crafting his works. Fascinated by analogies between music and other artistic disciplines (carpentry included), Brendan is always pursuing a more diverse tool-belt, currently so through exploring the integration of improvisation, composition, and personal performance.
Brendan is currently living in the Netherlands, working on a composition project through the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Brendan studied composition last year with Lasse Thoresen at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He received his Master of Music from Indiana University, and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Puget Sound. He has studied composition with Don Freund, Claude Baker, Michael Gandolfi, Gregory Youtz, and Rob Hutchinson. He has also studied with Christopher Rouse, Steven Stucky, and Syd Hodkinson at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has studied electronic music with Jeffrey Hass and John Gibson, and percussion with Amy Putnam.